Footers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person or organization that assists other individuals in completing forms, documents, or contracts for various purposes
2. A term denoting the concluding section or remark found at the bottom of a page in a document or paper
3. An alternative definition could refer to decorative elements or footnotes that provide additional information or commentary at the page's end

Etymology: "Footers" is the plural of "footer," which has two unrelated histories. The older sense of the word, in the 18th century, came from "fouter" or "foutre," a term for a valueless thing, possibly tied to the French verb "foutre" meaning "to fuck," which itself traces back to Latin "futuere." Its distant ancestor is a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to hit," a striking contrast with the cosy sense of a page's closing notes. The sense you mean, a footer as a line of text or decoration at the bottom of a page, is a much later development. It is formed from "foot" plus the suffix "-er," and it draws on "football" and the "Oxford -er" pattern, in which the suffix is added to a word to form a short, informal noun.

Synonyms: bottoms, bases, supports, foundations, pedestals