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EntityQ4382663· pop 8· linked from 296 articles

Also known as footboy

thumbnail|Royal footmen in the United Kingdom wearing their ceremonial livery at the State Opening of Parliament procession, 2008 A footman is a male domestic worker employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage.

Wikidata facts

Instance of
occupation
Subclass of
domestic worker
Show 3 more facts
female form of label
pokojówka
Commons category
Footmen
male form of label
pokojowy

via Wikidata · CC0

~4 min read

Encyclopedic overview

7 sections
Contents
  • Etymology
  • Roles
  • Servants
  • Famous fictional footmen
  • See also
  • Sources
  • References

thumbnail|Royal footmen in the United Kingdom wearing their ceremonial livery at the State Opening of Parliament procession, 2008 A footman is a male domestic worker employed mainly to wait at table or attend a coach or carriage.

==Etymology== Originally in the 14th century a footman denoted a soldier or any pedestrian, later it indicated a foot servant. A running footman delivered messages. He might run beside or behind the carriages of aristocrats, running alongside the coach to make sure it was not overturned by such obstacles as ditches or tree roots. A footman might also run ahead to the destination to prepare for his lord's arrival.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “footman” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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