Floatabilities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The qualities or characteristics that enable something to remain submerged on the surface of a fluid or to drift without sinking ; the properties that allow an object or substance to stay buoyant in a liquid environment ; the degrees to which materials or bodies can maintain buoyancy and resist sinking when placed in water or other fluids
2. The conditions or features that impart the ability to stay afloat or to be buoyant in liquids ; the inherent capacities that facilitate an object's suspension or drift atop a fluid surface ; the spectrum of buoyancy-related traits that determine how well something can float or sustain flotation in a fluid medium
3. The set of attributes that describe how well an entity can float or maintain position on a fluid's surface ; the extent to which an object exhibits buoyancy and resists submersion in water or similar liquids ; the physical characteristics that influence the capacity for suspension and floatation in various fluid substances

Etymology: "Floatabilities" is simply the plural of "floatability", the noun for how well something floats. The word is built from "float" and the suffix "-ability", which turns a verb into a noun meaning the capacity to be what the verb describes, as in "readability" or "portability". "Float" itself is an old Germanic-derived word for staying on a liquid's surface, and "-ability" comes ultimately from Latin "-abilitas", so the compound joins a native English root to a Latin suffix. Because "floatability" is formed on demand from its parts, it reads as a technical coinage rather than a traditional word. It is most often used in engineering, shipbuilding and materials testing, where comparing the floatabilities of different hulls, pontoons or packaging materials requires a countable form.

Synonyms: buoyancy, floatation, levitation

Antonyms: sinking, submersion, immersion