flotsam-jetsam
səmAlso called flotsam and jetsam (for defs 3, 4).
Origin:
1600–10; < Anglo-French floteson, derivative of floter to float < Old English flotian
1600–10; < Anglo-French floteson, derivative of floter to float < Old English flotian
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To flotsam-jetsam
00:10
Flotsam-jetsam
is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
| a chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
flotsam
c.1600, from Anglo-Fr. floteson, from O.Fr. flotaison "a floating," from floter "to float" (of Gmc. origin) + -aison, from L. -ation(em). Spelled flotsen till mid-19c. when it altered, perhaps under influence of many English words in -some. In British law, flotsam are goods found floating on the sea
as a consequence of a shipwreck or action of wind or waves; jetsam are things cast out of a ship in danger of being wrecked, and afterward washed ashore, or things cast ashore by the sailors. Whatever sinks is lagan.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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