footman

plural footmen

1. archaicA soldier who marches and fights on foot; a foot soldier.
2. A man in waiting; a male servant whose duties are to attend the door, the carriage, the table, etc.

   Reading their accounts, you can't help feeling they got a more thrilling frisson from sharing a pot of home-made stew without a footman than they took in any of their convoluted couplings.

   2023 September 23, Tim Hayward, “Not so easy does it”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 19

   2 more examples

   […] on October 29, 1888, the Russian imperial train was derailed at Borki by defective track, and twenty-one persons were killed. Although these did not include the Emperor Alexander III, who escaped with a bruising, a footman serving coffee to him at the critical moment, and his dog, which was lying on the floor beside him, were both killed on the spot.

   1945 September and October, C. Hamilton Ellis, “Royal Trains—V”, in Railway Magazine, pages 251–252

   And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […]: Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir.

   1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax

3. historicalA servant who runs in front of his master's carriage.

   When he travelled by coach the vehicle was accompanied by his liveried footmen running alongside to ensure its smooth passage (footmen would not be indoor servants until a century later).

   2016, Anna Keay, chapter 8, in The Last Royal Rebel, London: Bloomsbury

   Synonyms: runner, running footman

4. A metallic stand with four feet, for keeping anything warm before a fire.
5. A moth of the family Arctiidae (or subfamily Arctiinae); so called from its livery-like colors.

   Synonyms: footman moth

   1. Especially, a common footman (Manulea lurideola).

      Synonyms: footman moth

6. A bar that connects the treadle of a spinning wheel to the wheel.

plural Footmans

1. A surname.