float
/floʊt/verb, noun
float is spelled F-L-O-A-T: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 8.7 times per million words in written English, the 7,797th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, float means “To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in float?
| Letters | 5: F-L-O-A-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 8.7 times per million words; the 7,797th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is float?
Float appears 8.7 times per million words in written English, the 7,797th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce float?
- UK /fləʊt/
- US /floʊt/
- Australia /fləʉt/
Float has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-float.ogg, EN-AU_ck1_float.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with float?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as float from its last stressed vowel (/oʊt/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: aloft, flota.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of float
- floats present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- floating participle, present
- floated participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does float mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To be supported by a fluid of greater density (than the object).
Helium balloons float in air, while air-filled balloons don't.
- 2
To be supported by a liquid of greater density, such that part (of the object or substance) remains above the surface.
The boat floated on the water.
- 3
To cause something to be suspended in a fluid of greater density.
to float a boat
- 4
To be capable of floating.
That boat doesn't float.
- 5
To move in a particular direction with the liquid in which one is floating.
I’d love to just float downstream.
- 6
To drift or wander aimlessly.
I’m not sure where they went... they're floating around here somewhere.
- 7
To drift gently through the air.
The balloon floated off into the distance.
- 8
To cause to drift gently through the air, to waft.
noun
- 1
A buoyant device used to support something in water or another liquid.
Attach the float and the weight to the fishing line, above the hook.
- 2
A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.
- 3
A float board.
- 4
A tool similar to a rasp, used in various trades.
- 5
A sort of trowel used for finishing concrete surfaces or smoothing plaster.
When pouring a new driveway, you can use a two-by-four as a float.
- 6
An elaborately decorated trailer or vehicle, intended for display in a parade or pageant.
That float covered in roses is very pretty.
- 7
A floating toy made of foam, used in swimming pools.
- 8
UKA small vehicle used for local deliveries, especially in the term milk float.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Float in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | flotar , sobrenadar , boya , carroza |
| French | flotter , flotteur , char , taloche |
| German | treiben, schwimmen, schweben , Floß, Schwimmer (as in a carburetor) , gleiten |
| Portuguese | boiar, flutuar , boia , carro alegórico , broquel , pairar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does float come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).