Ponton

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of flat-bottomed boat used for shallow waters or as a floating platform
2. Used in the construction of temporary bridges or floating structures
3. Referring to a buoyant device that supports a load on water

Etymology: The word "ponton" arrived in English from French, where it means a flat-bottomed boat or a floating support. Its French form traces back to Latin "ponto", a bridge or pontoon-like structure, which is itself the root of "pont", the French word for bridge. The sense of a boat used as a support for a bridge explains how a word for a bridge-supporting vessel came to describe any buoyant device holding up a load on water.

Synonyms: pontoon, floating bridge