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float·er

(flōtər)

1. One that floats or is capable of floating.

2. One who wanders; a drifter.

3. An employee who is reassigned from job to job or shift to shift within an operation.

4. One who votes illegally in different polling places.

5. An insurance policy that protects movable property in transit or regularly subject to use in varying places.

6. Slang A corpse found floating in a body of water.

7. A deposit of material in the vitreous humor of the eye, usually consisting of aggregations of cells or proteins that have detached from the retina, perceived as a spot or thread in the visual field.

8. A knuckleball.

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

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