buoy

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English [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Middle English buoy, boye (“a float”), from Middle Dutch boeye (“a float, signal”) or Middle French bouee, boue ("a float, marker, buoy"; < Middle Dutch), from Old Dutch *bōkan, *boukan (“signal, beacon”), from Old Frankish *boukan, *baukan (“signal, beacon”), from Proto-Germanic *baukną (“sign, signal, portent”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰā- (“to glow, light, shine”). More at beacon.

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia buoy (plural buoys)

  1. (nautical) A float moored in water to mark a location, warn of danger, or indicate a navigational channel.
  2. A life-buoy.

Translations [edit]

nautical: a moored float

Verb [edit]

buoy (third-person singular simple present buoys, present participle buoying, simple past and past participle buoyed)

  1. (transitive) To keep afloat or aloft.
  2. (transitive) To support or maintain at a high level.
  3. (transitive) To mark with a buoy.
Translations [edit]
To keep afloat or aloft.
To support or maintain at a high level.
To mark with a buoy.

Derived terms [edit]

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