free-floating
|free-float-ing|
🇺🇸
/ˌfriːˈfloʊtɪŋ/
🇬🇧
/ˌfriːˈfləʊtɪŋ/
not fixed; floating freely
Etymology
'free-floating' originates from modern English as a compound of 'free' + the present participle 'floating' (from 'float'), formed to describe something that 'floats freely' without being fixed.
'free' comes from Old English 'frēo' meaning 'not in bondage, noble, free'; 'float' derives from Old English 'flotian' and related Germanic roots meaning 'to float, to drift'. The compound form 'free-floating' developed in Modern English by joining these elements to express the idea of 'freely floating' and later extended to figurative uses (e.g., free-floating currency or ideas).
Initially a literal phrase meaning 'floating without restraint', over time it acquired figurative and technical senses (for example, currencies that 'float' without control or concepts that are 'not tied to a particular reference point').
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
not fixed in place; able to move or drift freely; not attached or anchored.
The tools were free-floating in the microgravity module, so the astronauts had to secure them.
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Adjective 2
in finance or economics: (of a currency or shares) allowed to move freely in the market without direct government or controlling restrictions; freely tradable or determined by market forces.
After the reforms, the country adopted a free-floating exchange rate, letting the currency value be set by market supply and demand.
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Last updated: 2025/08/24 01:01