Research
A numbered note at the bottom of a page citing a source or adding an aside without interrupting the main text.
Merriam-Webster: “a note of reference, explanation, or comment usually placed below the text on a printed page”. First recorded as a noun in 1711, and as a verb, to furnish with a footnote, in 1864. The dictionary also records the figurative sense — “a relatively subordinate or minor part” — which is why calling something “a footnote to history” is a demotion.
Merriam-Webster is cited as the dictionary of record: where an entry defines a word rather than a position, a dictionary is the primary source for it. How the term is used in research writing, above, is this lexicon’s own reading.
From the AJG lexicon archive (July 2026).
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Developed by Amit Jain at allfrontierglobal.com · purposed.in · purposed · purposed2 · merchcomp.com · uuka.org
Compiled reference — verify current specifics at the source.
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