Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BOOT, n.² [Fr. botte, a boot, a bunch; Ir. butais; W. botasen, botas; Sp. bota, a boot, a butt, or cask, a leather bag to carry liquors; Port. bota; It. botte, boots, a cask.]

1. A covering for the leg, made of leather, and united with a shoe. This garment was originally intended for horsemen, but is now generally worn by gentlemen on foot. The different sorts are fishing-boots, worn in water; hunting- boots, a thinner kind for sportsmen; jack-boots, a strong kind for horsemen; and half-boots.
2. A kind of rack for the leg, formerly used to torture criminals. This was made of boards bound fast to the legs by cords; or a boot or buskin, made wet and drawn upon the legs and then dried by the fire, so as to contract and squeeze the legs. – Encyc.
3. A box covered with leather in the fore part of a coach. Also, an apron or leathern cover for a gig or chair, to defend persons from rain and mud. This latter application is local and improper.