flotsam

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈflɒtsəm/ (UK); /ˈflɑtsəm/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman floteson,^[2][3][4][5] from Old French floter (“to float”), of Germanic origin.^[2][3][4] It was spelled flotsen in English until the mid-19th century, when it changed, perhaps under the influence of words in -some.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In law it first meant wreckage of a ship or its cargo found floating on the sea.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

Figurative use for odds and ends, often in flotsam and jetsam, is attested by 1861.^[3][6] It also came to be used for floating refuse in general,^[2][5] and for destitute, drifting people.^[2][5]

Timeline

• c. 1600 – first recorded;^[3] the OED’s first quotation is 1607.^[6][4]
• 1861 – figurative odds and ends.^[3][6]
• 1879 – newly ejected oyster spawn.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Wreckage or cargo floating on the sea after a shipwreck.
2. Floating debris.
3. Discarded odds and ends.
4. Vagrant, destitute people.

Related words

• jetsam
• lagan
• float

Usage notes

American Heritage explains that in maritime law flotsam is wreckage or cargo left floating after a shipwreck, while jetsam is cargo thrown overboard from a ship in distress, and flotsam and jetsam is now used loosely of any floating or washed-up objects.^[2] Etymonline adds that what sinks is lagan.^[3]

References

1. [1] Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. [1] [2] [3] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. [1] [2] [3] Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
6. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press