Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- the part of the wreckage of a ship and its cargo found floating on the water.Compare jetsam, lagan.
- material or refuse floating on water.
- useless or unimportant items; odds and ends.
- a vagrant, penniless population: the flotsam of the city slums in medieval Europe.
noun
- wreckage from a ship found floatingCompare jetsam (def. 1), lagan
- useless or discarded objects; odds and ends (esp in the phrase flotsam and jetsam)
- vagrants
c.1600, from Anglo-French floteson, from Old French flotaison “a floating,” from floter “to float” (of Germanic origin; see float) + -aison, from Latin -ation(em). Spelled flotsen till mid-19c. when it altered, perhaps under influence of many English words in -some.
In British law, flotsam are goods found floating on the sea as a consequence of a shipwreck or action of wind or waves; jetsam are things cast out of a ship in danger of being wrecked, and afterward washed ashore, or things cast ashore by the sailors. Whatever sinks is lagan. Figurative use for “odds and ends” attested by 1861.
Discarded odds and ends, as in Most of our things have been moved to the new house, but there’s still some flotsam and jetsam to sort. [Mid-1800s]
Destitute, homeless individuals, as in The mayor was concerned about the flotsam and jetsam of the inner city. [Second half of 1900s] Both words originated in 17th-century sailing terminology. Flotsam literally meant “wreckage or cargo that remains afloat after a ship has sunk.” Jetsam meant “goods thrown overboard from a ship in danger of sinking in order to give it more buoyancy.” Both literal meanings remain current, although the distinction between them is often forgotten.