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afoot

[uh-foot]

Origin

adverb, adjective

on foot; walking: I came afoot.

astir; in progress: There is mischief afoot.

Origin:
1175–1225; Middle English a fote, on fote. See a-¹, foot

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Afoot is always a great word to know.

So is callithumpian. Does it mean:

a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

afoot (əˈfʊt)

—*adj, —adv*
1.	in circulation or operation; astir: mischief was afoot
2.	on or by foot

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

afoot

c.1200, afote, from a- "on" (see a- (1)) + foot (q.v.). Fig. sense of "in active operation" is c.1600 (first recorded in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar").

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"Pride can go without domestics, without fine clothes, can live in a house with two rooms, can eat potato, purslain, beans, lyed corn, can work on the soil, can travel afoot, can talk with poor men, or sit silent well contented with fine saloons. But vanity costs money, labor, horses, men, women, health and peace, and is still nothing at last; a long way leading nowhere.—Only one drawback; proud people are intolerably selfish, and the vain are gentle and giving."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

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afoot

a·foot