Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FLOAT, n. [Sax. flota; G. floss; D. vlot, vloot; Dan. flode; Sw. flotte; Fr. flotte; Sp. flota; It. flotta; Russ. plot.]

1. That which swims or is borne on water; as, a float of weeds and rushes. But particularly, a body or collection of timber, boards or planks, fastened together and conveyed down a stream; a raft. [The latter word is more generally used in the United States.]
2. The cork or quill used on an angling line, to support it and discover the bite of a fish. – Encyc. Walton.
3. The act of flowing; flux; flood; the primary sense, but obsolete. – Hooker.
4. A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one deep. – Mortimer.
5. A wave. [French flot; L. fluctus.]