Jetsam

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈd͡ʒɛt.səm/

Definitions

1. Debris or cargo that is deliberately thrown overboard from a vessel to lessen weight in emergencies
2. Discarded goods or materials released from a ship while navigating treacherous waters to ensure navigational safety
3. Materials or cargo cast off a ship to decrease its load during crises or to ensure safer travel through perilous waters

Etymology: Jetsam is a shortened form of "jettison," and the two words are doublets, meaning they came into English by separate routes from the same source. Middle English had "jetteson," borrowed from Anglo-Norman "getteson," a word for the act of throwing goods overboard. That word descends from the Latin "iactatio," a throwing or tossing about, the same root that gives English "jet" in the sense of a rushing stream of liquid. Over time the act and the thing diverged. "Jettison" stayed a verb for the deliberate casting away of cargo, while "jetsam" settled into a noun for the goods themselves, once they had been thrown out and then washed up or floated free. The lost cargo could be pulled from the sea by anyone who found it, which is why the word has long been paired in English law and custom with "flotsam," goods floating on the water, and "lagan," goods sunk beneath it.

Synonyms: cargo, debris