Buoyancy
/ˈbɔɪ.ən.si/noun
The ability of an object to float or rise in a fluid; also, cheerful lightness of spirit.
Did you know?Buoyancy comes through a nautical chain from a word for a floating sea-marker, not from any mystical “lightness,” though it later became a metaphor for emotional lift.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*bʰeuH-
“to be, become, grow”
Old French
OF
boie / buie
“a buoy or floating object used as a marker at sea”
Middle English
ME
boye, buye
“a floating marker or beacon”
17th Century
English
buoy
“a floating object anchored to mark a position in water”
18th Century
English
buoyancy
“the quality or state of floating; later, figuratively, cheerfulness or lightness”
Explore more surprising origins