Buoyances

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The quality or state of being able to float in a liquid or rise in air; the tendency of an object to remain suspended; the capacity to provide support or uplift to something else
2. A property of a substance that enables it to remain afloat or elevate itself within a fluid; an inherent ability to counteract the force of gravity; the assistance provided to keep another object from sinking
3. The characteristic that allows an object to float on or in a fluid; the ability to experience an upward force; the support afforded to maintain an object’s position in water or air

Etymology: "Buoyances" is simply the plural of "buoyance," a noun meaning the ability to float. The base form, "buoyance," is an alteration of "buoyancy," which is itself the older and more common term. Plurals of this kind are rare in ordinary English, since "buoyancy" is normally uncountable, but the form turns up where writers want to speak of several separate instances of floating power. The word "buoyance" arose by altering "buoyancy" into a shorter form, so the plural here carries the same sense as the base noun rather than a different meaning. Its meaning is therefore the same as that of "buoyancy," with the difference lying only in the spelling and in how the noun is used.

Synonyms: floats, levities, bouncinesses

Antonyms: sinking, heaviness, weight