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Added 9 October 2026

float

/fləʊt/ noun

Categories: TimeMoney & PropertyUncommon Words

In Latin: fluitō Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about float at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. The time interval between the deposit of a check in a bank and its payment.
  2. The number of shares outstanding and available for trading by the public.
  3. A drink with ice cream floating in it.

verb

  1. Be in motion due to some air or water current.
    The leaves were blowing in the wind
  2. Be afloat either on or below a liquid surface and not sink to the bottom.
  3. Set afloat.
    He floated the logs down the river

Origin

From Middle English floten, from Old English flotian (“to float”), from Proto-West Germanic *flotōn, from Proto-Germanic *flutōną (“to float”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewd-, *plew- (“to float, swim, fly”). Compare flow, fleet.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Related Words: driftswimblowbuoyancyprofilerchartankfloatationflotation

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