op staande voet

Dutch

Etymology

Calque of Medieval Latin stante pede (literally “with one’s foot standing still”), a medieval juridical term meaning "on the spot, without having left the court". Cognate with German stehenden Fußes.

Prepositional phrase

op staande voet

  1. on the spot, then and there
    Hij werd op staande voet ontslagen. ― He was fired on the spot.
    Synonym: stante pede

Usage notes
  • Most commonly used in the collocation op staande voet onslaan ("fire on the spot").
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.