flottant

English

Adjective

flottant (not comparable)

1. (heraldry) Alternative form of flotant
   • 1856, David MacGregor Peter, The baronage of Angus and Mearns, page 96:

     […] gules; second, Azure, a sinister hand a paumee, couped, in pale, argent; third, Or, a galley, sails furled, oars in action, sable, flags flottant, gules; fourth, Argent, out of a mount in base, an oak-tree, vert […]

   • 1881, Scottish Arms, Being a Collection of Armorial Bearings A. D. 1370-1678, page 264:

     […] with tassels flottant upwards or; […]

   • 1903, Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, page 417:

     […] each surrounded by a banner flottant from the sides, the dexter flag charged with a cross, the sinister with a saltire, gules. The badge of the Order of St. Patrick is prescribed by the statutes of the Order, 28th February, 1783, wherein the saltire gules […]

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

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Adjective

flottant (feminine flottante, masculine plural flottants, feminine plural flottantes)

1. floating
2. (figuratively) vacillating, fluctuating, indecisive, variable

Derived terms

• île flottante
• virgule flottante

Participle

flottant

1. present participle of flotter

Further reading

• “flottant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.