Float

How to spell float

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce float

What does float mean?

1. verbTo rest on or move along the surface of a liquid, or to drift gently in the air.
2. nounA decorated platform or vehicle that is driven in a procession or parade.
3. nounA sum of cash kept in a till at the start of trading so that change can be given.

Float in a sentence

• verb

  The empty bottle will float all the way down the river.

• noun

  The carnival float was covered in paper flowers and lights.

• noun

  The manager counted the float into the till before opening.

• verb

  Helium balloons float up to the ceiling within seconds.

• noun

  Volunteers spent the weekend building the school float for the parade.

• noun

  Each register began the morning with a fifty pound float.

Where does float come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a native English word, descending from the Old English verb flotian, meaning 'to rest on the surface of water', which itself grew from the same Germanic root that gave us 'fleet' and 'flow'. The literal early sense was simply about something staying up on liquid rather than sinking, and that water imagery has stayed close to the word ever since. Over time the meaning widened to cover anything drifting in air or moving gently and freely, and by extension to abstract ideas being put forward, as when you 'float' a suggestion. Commercial senses arrived later: a company is 'floated' when its shares are first offered for sale, and a cashier keeps a 'float' of money to start the day. Because the word is so old and plain, the spelling is straightforward, with the long vowel written 'oa' rather than the trickier 'oe' or 'o-e' patterns.

How the word is built

• float (whole word; from Old English flotian 'to rest on water'), no affixes