1049: footage Oct 23, 2017

There are many ways that a word might become dated, obsolete, or archaic. It is certainly possible that words will stop being popular without any particular reason, just like how "some pumpkins" used to be used as a synonym for 'impressive' (or as an exclamation) but no longer would be said ordinarily. Other times, technologies, cultures, etc. change and words like 'squiriferous' disappear because they are no longer needed, since people don't need, in this case, squires. Nevertheless, words can survive by taking on new meanings, such as 'footage' did. Like other words for distance, including 'yard', the suffix '-age' can be added to 'foot' to mean "a length measured in feet" but this took on the meaning of "a length of film". Film is much less popular now, but 'footage' has since come to mean the video recording of something, even digitally. It also used to denote a piece-work system for paying workers, but that meaning did not either continue nor adapt.