footnote

[ foot-noht ]

noun

1. an explanatory or documenting note or comment at the bottom of a page, referring to a specific part of the text on the page.
2. a minor or tangential comment or event added or subordinated to a main statement or more important event.

verb (used with object)

, foot·not·ed, foot·not·ing.

1. to add a footnote or footnotes to (a text, statement, etc.); annotate:

   to footnote a dissertation.

footnote

/ ˈfʊtˌnəʊt /

noun

1. a note printed at the bottom of a page, to which attention is drawn by means of a reference mark in the body of the text
2. an additional comment, as to a main statement

verb

1. tr to supply (a page, book, etc) with footnotes

Word History and Origins

Origin of footnote¹

First recorded in 1835–45; foot + note

Example Sentences

That’s probably enough to ensure it will be at least a footnote in history.

From Vox

The unfortunate footnote of any Gonzaga season is that for some, it means little unless Few wins a national championship.

From FiveThirtyEight

That includes long-standing features like footnotes, citations and changelogs—none of which are available to those attempting to correct falsehoods on social media platforms.

From Time

Cleveland wound up as the footnote of this four-team trade, but it did well to grab the 22-year-old Allen as a long-term option at center.

From Washington Post

Instead of budget footnotes, journalists were trying to find safety.

From Time

Her decision was based on a tiny footnote written by U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Stevens in 2005.

From The Daily Beast

When I wrote the novel about the Gulag, House of Meetings, the name Stalin only appears in a footnote very early on.

From The Daily Beast

Mike Tyson Mysteries is also another footnote in one of the unlikeliest second acts in history.

From The Daily Beast

By the time "decisions need to be made" about 2016, Christie said, "I think this will be a footnote."

From The Daily Beast

To put things into perspective, had Gore won his home state, Florida would have been relegated to a footnote.

From The Daily Beast

Footnote 2: Tatham says that the tobacco plant is peculiarly adapted for an agricultural comparison of climates.

From Project Gutenberg

Footnote 23: Monardes wrote upon it only from the small account he had of it from the Brazilians.

From Project Gutenberg

Footnote 48: Tobacco has been able to survive such attacks as these—nay, has raised up a host of defenders as well as opponents.

From Project Gutenberg

Footnote 76: Hughes, in his History of Barbadoes, says that the common people call the worm kitifonia.

From Project Gutenberg

Footnote 81: Florida tobacco is noted for the white rust found on the leaves.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• explanation
• reference

Footnote Vs. Endnote

What’s the difference between a footnote and an endnote?

A footnote is a note at the bottom (the “foot”) of a page. An endnote is a note at the end of a text (such as an article, a chapter, or an entire book).

The difference between footnotes and endnotes is their location, not their function. Both consist of information added to a text in another spot, such as an explanation or a citation of a source. They are both usually indicated with some kind of mark, often an asterisk* or a number¹. The same mark appears in another part of the text along with the corresponding note, either at the bottom of the page (making it a footnote) or at the end of the text (making it an endnote).

Of course, if an article is only a single page, the note at the end could be called a footnote or an endnote.

Here’s an example of footnote and endnote used correctly in the same sentence.

Example: I use footnotes for tangential information so that readers can access it without turning the page, but I use endnotes for citations so they don’t clutter up the page.

Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between footnote and endnote.

Quiz yourself on footnote vs. endnote!

Should footnote or endnote be used in the following sentence?

I thought I had a lot more to read, but then I realized that there is a 27-page _____ section at the end of the book!