Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Footing \Foot"ing\, n.
   1. Ground for the foot; place for the foot to rest on; firm
      foundation to stand on.

            In ascent, every step gained is a footing and help
            to the next.                          --Holder.

   2. Standing; position; established place; basis for
      operation; permanent settlement; foothold.

            As soon as he had obtained a footing at court, the
            charms of his manner . . . made him a favorite.
                                                  --Macaulay.

   3. Relative condition; state.

            Lived on a footing of equality with nobles.
                                                  --Macaulay.

   4. Tread; step; especially, measured tread.

            Hark, I hear the footing of a man.    --Shak.

   5. The act of adding up a column of figures; the amount or
      sum total of such a column.

   6. The act of putting a foot to anything; also, that which is
      added as a foot; as, the footing of a stocking.

   7. A narrow cotton lace, without figures.

   8. The finer refuse part of whale blubber, not wholly
      deprived of oil. --Simmonds.

   9. (Arch. & Enging.) The thickened or sloping portion of a
      wall, or of an embankment at its foot.

   {Footing course} (Arch.), one of the courses of masonry at
      the foot of a wall, broader than the courses above.

   {To pay one's footing}, to pay a fee on first doing anything,
      as working at a trade or in a shop. --Wright.

   {Footing beam}, the tie beam of a roof.