float English · revision 15159

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=1031|origins=ine-pro *pleu-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /fləʊt/, US /floʊt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|floten]], [[inh|ang|flotian|t=to rest on the surface of water]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*flutōjanan]],^(Barnhart 1988) cognate with [[dum|vlōten]], [[osx|flotōn]] and [[non|flota]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) and formed from the same base as [[m|ang|flēotan|t=to flow, float]] (see [[fleet]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[ine-pro|*pleu-|t=to flow]].^(Etymonline) In Middle English it was reinforced by [[fro|floter]], itself of Germanic origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) The noun merges [[m|ang|flota|t=boat, fleet]], [[m|ang|flote|t=troop, flock]] and [[m|ang|flot|t=sea]].^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The verb, to rest on the surface of water: 1031, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.^(Barnhart 1988) The noun, the action of floating, is from before 1000.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To drift or hover passively is from about 1300,^(Etymonline) and the noun was used for an attachment that keeps a fishing line afloat from about 1300 and for a raft from the early 14th century.^(Etymonline) Movement through the air is from the 1630s,^(Etymonline) and the transitive senses, to make something float (about 1600) and to launch a financial venture (1778), followed.^(Etymonline) A parade float, from 1888, probably comes from the sense of a flat-bottomed boat (1550s).^(Etymonline) A soft drink with ice cream floating in it is attested by 1915.^(Etymonline) A floating rib, not joined in front, is so named by 1802,^(Etymonline) and the floating of a currency from 1971.^(OED 1989) In Caithness a float was a strip of ploughed land between two open furrows.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1000 – the action of floating.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1031 – to float (verb).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – to drift; a fishing float.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1778 – to float a financial venture.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1888 – a parade float.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1971 – floating a currency.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To rest on or near the surface of a liquid without sinking; to be [[buoyant]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To drift or move lightly through air or water.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To move about aimlessly.^(Collins 2023)^(AHD)

+ # To launch a ship; to start a business or offer its shares.^(AHD)

+ # To let the exchange value of a [[currency]] vary freely.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something that floats, such as a [[raft]], a [[buoy]] or the cork of a fishing line.^(AHD)

+ # A decorated vehicle in a [[parade]].^(Etymonline)

+ # A soft drink with ice cream floating in it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[floatable]]

+ * [[afloat]]

+ * [[floatboard]]

+ * [[floatel]]

+ * [[floater]]

+ * [[floatstone]]

+ * [[floaty]]

+ * [[flotation]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fleet]]

+ * [[flotilla]]

+ * [[flotsam]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}