Lagans

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Cargo or wreckage deliberately sunk at sea and marked with a buoy so it can be recovered later
2. Goods thrown overboard from a sinking ship and tied to a float so they can be retrieved afterwards
3. Items lying on the seabed after being jettisoned from a vessel, kept findable by a marker buoy

Etymology: Lagans are goods deliberately sunk in the sea by a ship in distress, then marked with a buoy so the owners can recover them later. Maritime law treated them differently from flotsam, which floats, and jetsam, which is thrown overboard, and the difference mattered because the owner kept the right to reclaim sunken cargo. The singular "lagan" came into English from Anglo-French or Old French in the Middle Ages, and its exact origin is uncertain.

Synonyms: jetsam