Underfote

Part of speech: adverb

Definitions

1. Lying on the ground beneath one's feet or being trampled down ; getting in the way and causing trouble for someone nearby
2. Situated down on the ground where feet tread ; present in the way, often as an annoying obstacle to others
3. Beneath the feet on the floor or ground ; obstructing movement by being where people are walking or working

Etymology: In Middle English, "underfote" was a spelling of "underfoot," the form with the final -e that many words of that period carried. The word is a compound of "under" and "foot," and its earliest ancestor is probably the Old English phrase "under fotum," which used the dative plural of "fot" ("foot") and meant beneath the feet. Because the phrase was often written as separate words for centuries, the modern closed spelling reflects a later merging rather than a single fixed form.