floater C2+ Topic:People & Society US /ˈfloʊtɚ/ UK /ˈfləʊtə/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun a thing or person that floats; a spot drifting in one's field of vision He noticed a floater drifting across his eye in the bright light. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a thing or person that... drifterwandererspeckspotbuoy Word family Related forms floatfloatingafloat Etymology AI details From float (Old English flotian 'to float', akin to fleotan 'to glide') + the agentive suffix -er. flotian Old English View etymology graph -> Topics People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # floater **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈfloʊtɚ/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈfləʊtə/ ## Meanings 1. a thing or person that floats; a spot drifting in one's field of vision ## Examples - He noticed a floater drifting across his eye in the bright light. ## Synonyms - drifter - wanderer - speck - spot - buoy ## Related Forms - float - floating - afloat ## Roots and Affixes - Root: flotian ## Etymology From float (Old English flotian 'to float', akin to fleotan 'to glide') + the agentive suffix -er. ## AI Etymology Floater is from float (Old English flotian 'to float', akin to fleotan 'to glide') + the agentive suffix -er. Important recorded forms include flotian (Old English). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers a thing or person that floats; a spot drifting in one's field of vision. The wider family includes related words such as float, floating, and afloat. ## Topics - People & Society - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown