afoot

C2+ Topic:Cause, Change & Process

Also spelled a-foot

US /əˈfʊt/ UK /əˈfʊt/ See IPA manual

adv adj

Meanings

1

adv
in the process of happening or being planned

There was clearly some mischief afoot in the quiet office.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adv · in the process of happening... underwayastirbrewingdeveloping ongoing happening stirring

Opposites

dormant inactive quiescent

Word family

Related forms foot footing

Etymology

From Middle English afote, from Old English on fot ('on foot'), from a- ('on') + fot ('foot'), from Proto-Germanic *fots, from Proto-Indo-European *pods ('foot').

fot Middle English *pṓds Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Cause, Change & Process

# afoot

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adv, adj
**IPA (US):** əˈfʊt
**IPA (UK):** əˈfʊt

## Meanings
1. in the process of happening or being planned

## Examples
- There was clearly some mischief afoot in the quiet office.

## Synonyms
- underway
- astir
- brewing
- developing
- ongoing
- happening
- stirring

## Antonyms
- dormant
- inactive
- quiescent

## Related Forms
- foot
- footing

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: fot
- Root: *pṓds

## Etymology
From Middle English afote, from Old English on fot ('on foot'), from a- ('on') + fot ('foot'), from Proto-Germanic *fots, from Proto-Indo-European *pods ('foot').

## AI Etymology
Afoot is from Middle English afote, from Old English on fot ('on foot'), from a- ('on') + fot ('foot'), from Proto-Germanic *fots, from Proto-Indo-European *pods ('foot'). Important recorded forms include fot (Old English) and *pṓds (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers in the process of happening or being planned. The wider family includes related words such as foot and footing.

## Topics
- Cause, Change & Process

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afoot

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