What does footer mean?
A footer is the band of text or graphics positioned at the bottom of each page of a printed document or at the base of a webpage, typically carrying information meant to appear consistently throughout: page numbers, chapter titles, copyright notices, contact details, or navigation links. In word-processing and publishing software, headers and footers work as a pair, framing the content above them, and most programs let users define them once so they repeat automatically on every page. Web designers treat the footer as an important structural zone where legal information, sitemaps, and social media links commonly live. The word derives simply from 'foot', reflecting its position at the 'foot' of the page. In British contexts the term has picked up incidental meanings — a footballer striking the ball, or, in older regional slang, a person who fusses about ineffectually — but these are minor beside the dominant typographic and web-design sense known worldwide.
A line or block of text, such as a page number or citation, appearing at the bottom of each page of a document, or the bottom section of a webpage containing auxiliary information.
"Insert the chapter title into the footer before printing the report."
Standard in publishing, word processing, and web design in both the UK and US.
(British, informal) A footballer who plays or strikes the ball with the foot.
"He's a tidy footer who rarely gives the ball away."
Chiefly British sporting slang.
(dated, British regional) A person who fidgets, bungles, or meddles clumsily with something.
"Stop footerin' about with those wires before you break something."
Largely confined to older Northern English dialect; usually heard in the phrase 'to footer about'.
Plural used when referring to multiple documents' footers or multiple footer sections; singular per document/page is typical.
"Different sections of the report use different footers."
Every document you've ever printed has one hiding in plain sight — and in Britain, 'footer' can even mean a footballer's boot.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of footer
The word 'footer' is formed straightforwardly from 'foot', the Old English root that also gives us many 'foot'-related terms; it arose as an agent noun denoting something connected with feet or the foot of a page or object. Its primary modern meaning — matter placed at the 'foot' of a page — reflects this positional logic. Through the related Germanic root of 'foot', it stands distantly alongside the Latin 'pes'/ped- family (as in 'pedal' and 'pedestrian'), though those derive by parallel rather than direct descent.
How footer is actually used
The document/webpage sense is standard in both British and US usage. The footballing sense is chiefly British; 'footer' meaning a clumsy meddler ('to footer about') is now largely regional and dated English dialect.
Easily confused with footer
A header is the analogous block of text at the top of a page, whereas a footer sits at the bottom.