Dictionary

lotus foot en · NOUN

Etymology

Calque of Chinese 蓮花腳 /莲花脚 (liánhuājiǎo).

Meanings

1. A foot whose shape has been altered by footbinding.
   • The tiny “lotus foot” in its delicate silken shoe was seen as one of the most attractive qualities in a prospective bride; the smaller the foot, the more sexually pleasing the girl was. More recent studies have shown that foot-binding was likely practiced not purely for the sake of marriage, but also to keep girls at home and engaged in handicrafts, such as spinning cotton, in order to contribute to their family’s income. 2020 February 14, Antonia Malchik, “The Neglected Consequences of Foot-Binding”, in The Atlantic:
   • Well I made some exhibition, I lost my will to eat / The only thing that matters to me is to touch your lotus feet 2002, George Harrison, “Stuck Inside a Cloud”, in Brainwashed:

Forms

Relateds

lotus shoe

Translations (10)

nl lotusvoet (foot whose shape has been altered by footbinding) · fi lootusjalka (foot whose shape has been altered by footbinding) · de Lotosfuß (foot whose shape has been altered by footbinding) · kk шиаяқ (foot whose shape has been altered by footbinding) · fr pied bandé (foot whose shape has been altered by footbinding) · mn лянхуа хөл (foot whose shape has been altered by footbinding) · cmn 蓮花腳 /莲花脚 (foot whose shape has been altered by footbinding) · pt pé de lótus (foot whose shape has been altered by footbinding) · es pie de loto (foot whose shape has been altered by footbinding) · et lootose-jalg (foot whose shape has been altered by footbinding)