buoyancy means the upward force on a body immersed or partly immersed in a fluid.
buoyancy is pronounced /ˈbɔɪ.ən.si/.
Why “buoyancy” is a great word
The upward force exerted by a fluid that opposes the weight of an immersed object, or the quality of being able to float; also, resilience or cheerfulness of spirit. From 'buoyant' (from 'buoy', from Middle Dutch *boeye* ("signal float, buoy"), likely from Old French *boie* ("fetter, chain"), from Latin *boia* ("a collar, fetter")) + the noun-forming suffix '-cy' or '-ancy'. Unlike "levity," which is a lightness of mood often fleeting and superficial, or the rare "buoyance" that names only the raw physical force, buoyancy is the standard term for a dual grace—both the physics of floatation and the metaphysics of hope. It is the unseen hand of water holding up a ship's iron hull, the cork bobbing back to the surface after a wave's attempt to drown it, and the stubborn lift in a heart that has learned, against all weight of evidence, how not to sink—the quiet insistence of rising, again and again, against the pull of the deep.
Etymology
From buoyant + -cy or buoy + -ancy.
noun
- The upward force on a body immersed or partly immersed in a fluid.
- The ability of an object to stay afloat in a fluid.
- Resilience or cheerfulness.“With how much lighter a step, with how much brighter an eye, did Francesca wander through the forest, even in the last desolation of autumn, than she did in all the bloom and buoyancy of spring!”
Words closest in meaning
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