Footplate

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A flat surface positioned at the bottom of machinery that serves to stabilize the equipment and enable operator interaction with controls or functions
2. This platform, found at the lower part of a device, provides stability and serves as the area where an operator's foot can control or maneuver the machine
3. A supporting surface located beneath machinery that stabilizes the equipment while allowing the operator's foot to interact with controls or mechanisms

Etymology: "Footplate" is about as transparent as compounds get: it simply joins "foot" and "plate," the flat metal surface a driver's foot rests on. The "plate" half comes from the Old French "plate," meaning a flat, thin piece of metal, which in turn descends from the Greek "platys," meaning broad or flat, so the word has always described something spread out and level. Its best-known use is on steam locomotives, where the footplate is the raised floor at the front of the cab on which the crew stand and work the controls. The term is so closely tied to that setting that railway people often use it to mean the whole working cab, as in saying a crew "worked the footplate" on a long run.

Synonyms: platform, base, pedestal