1. (

• footprint ,
• footmark ,
• step ,

) a mark of a foot or shoe on a surface; "the police made casts of the footprints in the soft earth outside the window" ;

2. (

• footprint ,

) a trace suggesting that something was once present or felt or otherwise important; "the footprints of an earlier civilization" ;

3. (

• footprint

) the area taken up by some object; "the computer had a desktop footprint of 10 by 16 inches" ;