Footstone

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈfʊtstoʊn/

Definitions

1. A rectangular stone placed at the foot of a burial marker to signify the endpoint of a grave
2. A stone positioned at the lower end of a grave to mark the boundary or edge of the burial site
3. A flat or upright stone set at the foot part of a tomb to denote the terminus of the grave

Etymology: A footstone is, literally, a stone set at the foot of a grave, the smaller marker that sat opposite the headstone, usually bearing little more than initials or a short inscription. The pairing of "foot" and "stone" is plain English: "foot" in the sense of the lower end of something, here the end where the feet of the buried person lay, joined to "stone," the common material of memorials. The compound makes the layout of an old grave visible in its name. A headstone marked the head of the burial and a footstone marked the feet, so the two words together describe a whole grave plot. Footstones were most common in older cemeteries, and the word's meaning has never shifted far from this physical object.