Definitions
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Etymologies
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Examples
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As for having your feet washed in honey -- it's nothing like you could ever imagine -- I tried it firstfoot.
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Thus arranged they walked eastward along the highroad, to meet the bride's firstfoot.
bilby commented on the word firstfoot
Via dictionary.com
noun
1. Scot. the first person to cross the threshold of a house on New Year's Day.
2. Scot. the first person met after starting out on the day of an important occasion.
Quotes
Custom held that the most fortunate “firstfoot” on a Hogmanay was a tall and handsome dark-haired man; to welcome one as the first visitor across the threshold after midnight brought good fortune to the house for the coming year.
-- Diana Gabaldon, The Fiery Cross, 2001
Origin
First-foot is a compound of the adjective first and the noun foot. It entered English in the late 1700s.
January 3, 2016