The foot is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion. In many animals with feet, the foot is a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg made up of one or more segments or bones, generally including claws or nails.

General forms of the foot

An example of unguligrade feet, the hooves of a horse

The feet of land vertebrates are characterized as either plantigrade, digitigrade, or unguligrade. In plantigrade animals, such as humans, frogs or bears, the bottom of the entire foot supports the weight of the animal. In digitigrade animals, such as cats, wolves or birds, the toes bear the animal's weight, while the upper regions of the foot, the ankle and wrist, remain elevated. Finally, in unguligrade animals, such as cows or horses, even the toes are elevated, the animal standing only atop its nails, which have evolved to bear weight and are called hooves.

Anatomy

The human foot is of the plantigrade form. The major bones in the human foot are:

• Phalanges: The bones in the toes are called phalanges.
• Metatarsals: The bones in the middle of the foot are called metatarsal bones.
• Cuneiforms: There are three bones in the middle of the foot, towards the centre of the foot between the navicular bone and the 1-3 metatarsal bone( the three bones are the intermediate, lateral, medial cuneiform bones.)
• Cuboid: The bone sitting adjacent to the cuneiforms on the outside of the foot is called the cuboid.
• Navicular: This bone sits behind the cuneiforms.
• Talus: Also called the ankle bone, the talus sits directly behind the navicular.
• Calcaneus: Also called the heel bone, the calcaneus sits under the talus and behind the cuboid.

The foot also contains sesamoid bones in distal portion of the first metatarsal bone.

Anthropometry

An anthropometric study of 1197 North American adult Caucasian males (mean age 35.5 years) found that mean foot length was 26.3 cm with a standard deviation of 1.2 cm.

In culture

Worldwide, different cultures treat and perceive feet very differently:

• Many societies have "foot taboos":
• In countries strongly influenced by Buddhism (e.g., Thailand, Nepal), feet are the least respected parts of the body and strong taboos obtain against touching with feet, pointing with feet, or exposing the sole of the foot toward someone. In Thai custom, feet should not be in a higher position than someone's head and must never face someone or an image of the Buddha. In Nepal, sleeping on the floor with someone's feet oriented toward another sleeper is considered entirely unacceptable.
• Traditional Arab culture also has the same anti-foot bias as in the Nepal or Thailand cultures.
• In traditional China (10th through 20th Centuries), the practice of female foot binding stunted the growth of the feet of young girls, resulting in a very tiny, intensely painful, and aesthetically desirable (though deformed) foot- this was often nicknamed 'Pink Socking' as it left the foot bright pink.
• Within several Christian denominations, foot washing is a religious ritual possibly originating in the hospitality customs of the Levant.
• Foot fetishism is a sexual interest and preoccupation with feet and hosiery. Playing footsie is also a term dealing with rubbing each other's feet, and can have sexual connotations, while a foot job is a sex act involving the feet.