Etymologically
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flotter

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Pronunciation

Forms

flotter[1] Old French floter; the spelling flotter appears about 1360 in Froissart.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French floter, formed on from Frankish *flot-, a Frankish stem,[2][4] probably influenced by Latin fluctuō (“to fluctuate”).[5][4] The TLFi compares Middle Dutch vlōten (“to flow, sail”).[2] Wiktionary reconstructs Frankish *flotōn (“to float, swim”), from Proto-Germanic *flutōną, and compares Old English flotian and Old Norse flota.[1] The GLLF instead derives the verb from French flot.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

It first appears about 1100 in the Chanson de Roland, in the sense “to be borne on a liquid”: Li altre en vont à contreval flotant (“the others go floating downstream”).[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The idea of movement in waves explains its later senses: “to move to and fro in the wind” (about 1200, Bueve de Hantone), “to be unsteady, waver” (1669, Montaigne had it for being undecided in 1580), and “to hang loose” of a garment (19th century).[4][3] Of a currency it has meant “to float” since 1971.[4]

A transitive flotter “to send timber downstream” (1611 bois flotté, 1701) comes from flotte “raft” and is treated as a separate verb by the TLFi.[2][4]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – Floter in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • c. 1200 – Used of things moving in the wind.[2][4]
  • c. 1360 – The spelling flotter in Froissart.[3]
  • 1580 – Montaigne uses it for wavering, being undecided.[3]
  • 1611 – Bois flotté “floated timber”, in Cotgrave.[2]
  • 1971 – Said of a floating currency.[4]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To float: to be borne on the surface of a liquid; also to hang in the air.[3][1]
  2. To flutter, wave, stream in the wind.[3][1]
  3. Of a garment: to hang loose, be too big for the wearer.[4][7]
  4. (figurative) To waver, hesitate.[3][4]
  5. Of a currency: to float.[4]
  6. (familiar) To mill about.[1]

Word family

  • flottaison
  • flottant
  • flotteur
  • flottable
  • flottement
  • flotte
  • flot
  • fluctuer

Usage notes

An impersonal il flotte “it is raining” is slang recorded from 1886; the Grand Robert gives it a separate entry, from flotte “water, rain”, unless that noun is itself drawn from the verb.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert