flotter French · revision 38590

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland|origins=gem-pro *flutōną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /flɔ.te/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''flotter'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|floter]]; the spelling ''flotter'' appears about 1360 in Froissart.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|floter]], formed on [[der|frk|*flot-]], a Frankish stem,^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) probably influenced by [[la|fluctuō|t=to fluctuate]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992) The TLFi compares [[dum|vlōten|t=to flow, sail]].^(TLFi) Wiktionary reconstructs [[frk|*flotōn|t=to float, swim]], from [[gem-pro|*flutōną]], and compares [[ang|flotian]] and [[non|flota]].^(Wiktionary) The GLLF instead derives the verb from French [[flot]].^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==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”).^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) Of a currency it has meant “to float” since 1971.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ 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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Floter'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1200 – Used of things moving in the wind.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1360 – The spelling ''flotter'' in Froissart.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1580 – Montaigne uses it for wavering, being undecided.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1611 – ''Bois flotté'' “floated timber”, in Cotgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1971 – Said of a floating currency.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|float]]: to be borne on the surface of a liquid; also to hang in the air.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|flutter]], wave, stream in the wind.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a garment: to hang loose, be too big for the wearer.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(figurative)'' To [[m|en|waver]], hesitate.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Of a currency: to float.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(familiar)'' To mill about.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[flottaison]]

+ * [[flottant]]

+ * [[flotteur]]

+ * [[flottable]]

+ * [[flottement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[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.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}