footnote

Alternative forms

• f.n. (abbreviation)

Etymology

From foot +‎ note.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈfʊtˌnəʊt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈfʊtˌnoʊt/

Noun

footnote (plural footnotes)

1. A short piece of text, often numbered, placed at the bottom of a printed page, that adds a comment, citation, reference etc, to a designated part of the main text
2. (by extension) An event of lesser importance than some larger event to which it is related
   • 2014, Michael White, "Roll up, roll up! The Amazing Salmond will show a Scotland you won't believe", The Guardian, 8 September 2014:

     In that context Scotland's fate is a modest element, a symptom of wider fragmentation of the current global order, a footnote to the fall of empire and the Berlin Wall, important to us and punchdrunk neighbours like France and Italy, a mere curiosity to emerging titans like Brazil.

Verb

footnote (third-person singular simple present footnotes, present participle footnoting, simple past and past participle footnoted)

1. To add footnotes to a text; to annotate.

See also

• endnote
• headnote
• reference mark