pontoon

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pɒnˈtuːn/, X-SAMPA: /pQn"tu:n/

• Audio (US)

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Etymology 1

From Old French ponton, from Latin ponto (‘ferryboat’), from pons (‘bridge’).

Noun

pontoon (plural pontoons)

1. (military) A flat-bottomed boat used as a support for a temporary bridge.
2. A floating structure supporting a bridge or dock.
3. A box used to raise a sunken vessel.
4. A float of a seaplane.

Synonyms

• (floating structure used as a bridge): pontoon bridge

Translations

support for a temporary bridge

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 浮筒 (cmn) (fútǒng)

• Finnish: ponttoni (fi)
• French: ponton (fr) m, flotteur (fr) m
• German: Ponton (de) m

• Hungarian: ponton (hu)
• Japanese: ポンツーン (ja) (pontsūn)
• Romanian: ponton (ro) n, (plural pontoane)
• Russian: понтон (ru) (pontón) m

floating structure supporting a bridge or dock

• Finnish: ponttoni (fi)
• German: Ponton (de) m
• Italian: pontone (it) m

• Romanian: ponton (ro)
• Russian: понтон (ru) (pontón) m

box used to raise a sunken vessel

• Finnish: ponttoni (fi)
• Romanian: ponton (ro)

• Russian: понтон (ru) (pontón) m

float of a seaplane

• Finnish: ilmatyyny (fi)

• Russian: поплавок (ru) (poplavók) m

Etymology 2

Probably from vingt-un, an obsolete variant of vingt-et-un, from French, literally ‘twenty-one’.

Noun

pontoon (uncountable)

1. (card games) A card game in which the object is to obtain cards whose value adds up to, or nearly to, 21 but not exceed it.

Synonyms

• (card game): vingt-et-un

See also

• baccarat
• blackjack
• twenty-one