The term footman has two primary applications. Most commonly, a footman is a term applied to a male servant employed by a household, palace, or persons of grandeur. A footman would typically serve beneath a butler, acting as an assistant to him as well as to the household, but were once considered more of a luxury to employ than cooks, maids, and other female servants. Though common amongst wealthy families in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a footman is a less common employee today, found primarily in only the wealthiest of families, such as royalty.

The term footman is likely derived from the duties he performed. Employed to run alongside carriages and perform other livery duties as well as wait tables, open and close doors, or run errands, much of what a footman does is done while standing. Unlike a butler, whose primary job is to welcome guests, a footman could perform various duties within a household. In many cases, a footman would be duty bound to a specific person within a household acting as a private servant rather than a general household servant, thus adding to the lure of luxury and status.

A footman in earlier centuries would be highly prized for good stature and good looks. They were often required to dress in impractical clothing in comparison to the duties they performed. However, it was important that they look good, especially in the presence of visitors.

The term footman has also been applied to soldiers, or infantryman, who served on foot rather than mounted on horses. Typically, these soldiers would serve higher ranking military officials in several capacities, and thus the term likely became applied to domestic servitude. Coincidentally, if a household employed more than one footman, they would have rankings similar to in the military. The highest-ranking footman would be second to the butler and could act accordingly in the absence of the butler.

The term footman can also apply to a piece of furniture made of brass or steel, similar in design to footstool, that was commonly used for keeping dishes warm in front of fires. These specific period pieces that would be difficult to locate before the 1800s would be considered antique fireplace tools.