different between float vs char

English

Etymology

From Middle English floten, from Old English flotian (“to float”), from Proto-Germanic *flut?n? (“to float”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewd-, *plew- (“to float, swim, fly”). Cognate with Middle Low German vloten, vlotten (“to float, swim”), Middle Dutch vloten, Old Norse flota, Icelandic fljóta, Old English fl?otan (“to float, swim”), Ancient Greek ???? (plé?), Lithuanian plaukti, Russian ???????? (plávat?), Latin plaustrum (“wagon, cart”). Compare flow.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fl??t/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /flo?t/
• Rhymes: -??t

Verb

float (third-person singular simple present floats, present participle floating, simple past and past participle floated)

1. (intransitive) Of an object or substance, to be supported by a liquid of greater density than the object so as that part of the object or substance remains above the surface.

2. (transitive) To cause something to be suspended in a liquid of greater density.

3. (intransitive) To be capable of floating.

4. (intransitive) To move in a particular direction with the liquid in which one is floating

5. (intransitive) To drift or wander aimlessly.

6. (intransitive) To drift gently through the air.

7. (intransitive) To move in a fluid manner.

8. (intransitive, figuratively) To circulate.

9. (intransitive, colloquial) (of an idea or scheme) To be viable.

10. (transitive) To propose (an idea) for consideration.

11. (intransitive) To automatically adjust a parameter as related parameters change.
12. (intransitive, finance) (of currencies) To have an exchange value determined by the markets as opposed to by rule.

13. (transitive, finance) To allow (the exchange value of a currency) to be determined by the markets.

14. (transitive, colloquial) To extend a short-term loan to.

15. (transitive, finance) To issue or sell shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, followed by listing on a stock exchange.
    • 2005 June 21, Dewi Cooke, The Age [1],

      He [Mario Moretti Polegato] floated the company on the Milan Stock Exchange last December and sold 29 per cent of its shares, mostly to American investors.

    • 2007, Jonathan Reuvid, Floating Your Company: The Essential Guide to Going Public.
    • 2011, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI Yearbook 2011: Armaments, Disarmament and International Security, footnote i, page 269,

      As a result of this reverse acquisition, Hurlingham changed its name to Manroy plc and floated shares on the Alternative Investment Market in London.

16. (transitive) To spread plaster over (a surface), using the tool called a float.
    • 1932, The Bricklayer, Mason and Plasterer (volumes 35-37, page 35)

      This wire, nailed over the face of the old plaster will also reinforce any loose lath or plaster after the walls have set. Float the wall to the face of the lath first.

17. (transitive) To use a float (rasp-like tool) upon.

18. (transitive) To transport by float (vehicular trailer).
19. (poker) To perform a float.
20. (computing, transitive) To cause (an element within a document) to float above or beside others.
    • 2010, Andy Harris, HTML, XHTML and CSS All-In-One For Dummies (page 290)

      To get the footer acting right, you need to float it and clear it on both margins.

Derived terms

• float someone's boat
• whatever floats your boat

Translations

Noun

float (plural floats)

1. A buoyant device used to support something in water or another liquid.
2. A mass of timber or boards fastened together, and conveyed down a stream by the current; a raft.
3. A float board.
4. A tool similar to a rasp, used in various trades.
5. A sort of trowel used for finishing concrete surfaces or smoothing plaster.

6. An elaborately decorated trailer or vehicle, intended for display in a parade or pageant.

7. (Britain) A small vehicle used for local deliveries, especially in the term milk float.
   • 1913, D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, chapter 7

     As soon as the skies brightened and plum-blossom was out, Paul drove off in the milkman's heavy float up to Willey Farm.

8. (finance) Funds committed to be paid but not yet paid.

9. (finance, Australia, and other Commonwealth countries?) An offering of shares in a company (or units in a trust) to members of the public, normally followed by a listing on a stock exchange.
10. (banking) The total amount of checks/cheques or other drafts written against a bank account but not yet cleared and charged against the account.

11. (insurance) Premiums taken in but not yet paid out.

12. (programming) A floating-point number, especially one that has lower precision than a double.
    • 2011, Rubin H. Landau, A First Course in Scientific Computing (page 214)

      If you want to be a scientist or an engineer, learn to say “no” to singles and floats.

13. A soft beverage with a scoop of ice-cream floating in it.

14. A small sum of money put in a cashier's till at the start of business to enable change to be made.
15. (poker) A maneuver where a player calls on the flop or turn with a weak hand, with the intention of bluffing after a subsequent community card.
16. (knitting) One of the loose ends of yarn on an unfinished work.
17. (automotive) a car carrier or car transporter truck or truck-and-trailer combination
18. (transport) a lowboy trailer
19. (tempering) A device sending a copious stream of water to the heated surface of a bulky object, such as an anvil or die.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

20. (obsolete) The act of flowing; flux; flow.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Francis Bacon to this entry?)

21. A quantity of earth, eighteen feet square and one foot deep.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Mortimer to this entry?)

22. A polishing block used in marble working; a runner.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

23. (Britain, dated) A coal cart.
24. A breakdancing move in which the body is held parallel to the floor while balancing on one or both hands.
25. (computing) A visual style on a web page that causes the styled elements to float above or beside others.
    • 2007, Michael Bowers, Pro CSS and HTML Design Patterns (page 93)

      When a float cannot fit next to another float, it moves down below it. A float's position, size, padding, borders, and margins affect the position of adjacent floats and adjacent inline content.

Synonyms

• (Shares offered to the public:): initial public offering

Derived terms

• floatplane

Translations

References

Anagrams

• aloft, flota

English

Alternative forms

• chewre (obsolete)

Etymology 1

Back-formation from charcoal.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /t???/
• (US) IPA^(key): /t???/, [t???], [t???]
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Verb

char (third-person singular simple present chars, present participle charring, simple past and past participle charred)

1. (ergative) To burn something to charcoal.
2. To burn slightly or superficially so as to affect colour.

Synonyms

• coal
• blacken, scorch, sear, singe

Translations

Noun

char (plural chars or char)

1. A charred substance.

Synonyms

• charcoal

Translations

Etymology 2

Origin unknown, perhaps from Celtic, such as Irish ceara (“fiery red”) (found in personal names). Or, perhaps borrowed from Middle Low German schar (“flounder, dab”), from Proto-Germanic *skardaz, related to *skeran? (“to cut”), referring to its shape. If so, related to shard.

Alternative forms

• charr

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /t???/
• (US) IPA^(key): /t???/, [t???], [t???]
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Noun

char (plural chars or char)

1. One of the several species of fishes of the genus Salvelinus.

   Among other native delicacies, they give you fresh char.

Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English cherre (“odd job”), from Old English ?ierr (“a turn, change, time, occasion, affair, business”), from ?ierran (“to turn, change, turn oneself, go, come, proceed, turn back, return, regard, translate, persuade, convert, be converted, agree to, submit, make to submit, reduce”), from Proto-Germanic *karzijan? (“to turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *gers- (“to bend, turn”).

Cognate with Dutch keer (“a time, turn, occasion”), German Kehre (“a turn, bight, bend”) and kehren (“to sweep”) or umkehren (“to return or reverse”), Greek ????? (gýros, “a bout, whirl”), gyre. More at chore, ajar.

Alternative forms

• chare

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /t???/
• (US) IPA^(key): /t???/, [t???], [t???]
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Noun

char (plural chars)

1. (obsolete) A time; a turn or occasion.
2. (obsolete) A turn of work; a labour or item of business.
3. An odd job, a chore or piece of housework.
   • c. 1607, William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, Act V, Scene II.

     When thou hast done this chare, I’ll give thee leave to play till doomsday.

4. A charlady, a woman employed to do housework; cleaning lady.

   I had to scrub the kitchen today, because the char couldn't come.

Synonyms

• charlady
• charwoman
• cleaning lady
• cleaning woman

Translations

Verb

char (third-person singular simple present chars, present participle charing or charring, simple past and past participle chared or charred)

1. (obsolete) To turn, especially away or aside.
2. To work, especially to do housework; to work by the day, without being a regularly hired servant.
   • 1893, Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Naval Treaty" (Norton 2005, p.677)

     She explained that she was the commissionaire's wife, who did the charing, and I gave her the order for the coffee.

   • 1897, W. Somerset Maugham, Lisa of Lambeth, chapter 2

     Her husband had been a soldier, and from a grateful country she received a pension large enough to keep her from starvation, and by charring and doing such odd jobs as she could get she earned a little extra to supply herself with liquor.

3. (obsolete) To perform; to do; to finish.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Nares to this entry?)

4. To work or hew (stone, etc.).

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Oxf. Gloss to this entry?)

Etymology 4

Abbreviation of character, used as the name of a data type in some programming languages, including notably C.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /t???/, /k??/, /k??/
• (US) IPA^(key): /t???/, /k??/, /k??/
• Rhymes: -??(?)

Noun

char (plural chars)

1. (computing, programming) A character (text element such as a letter or symbol).
   • 1975, Computerworld - 23 April 1975 - Page 21

     The unit is an 80-column, 30 char. /sec dot matrix printer which uses a 5 by 7 font.

   • 1997, Cay S Horstmann, Gary Cornell, Core Java 1.1: Fundamentals

     Chars can be considered as integers if need be without an explicit cast.

   • 1998, John R Hubbard, Schaum's Outline of Theory and Problems of Fundamentals of Computing with C++

     Then since each char occupies one byte, these four bytes represent the three letters 'B', 'y', 'e', and the null character NUL.

   • 2004, Kari Laitinen, A Natural Introduction to Computer Programming with C#

     When a 32-bit int value is stored to a 16-bit char variable, information can be lost if the 16 most significant bits are not zeroes in the int value.

   • 2002, Nell B. Dale, Michael McMillan, Visual Basic .NET: a laboratory course - Page 25

     .NET uses the Unicode character set in which each char constant or variable takes up two bytes (16 bits) of storage.

Derived terms

• signed char
• unsigned char

Related terms

• byte
• double
• float
• int
• long
• short

Etymology 5

Non-rhotic spelling of cha.

Noun

char (uncountable)

1. (Britain) Alternative form of cha (tea)

References

Anagrams

• -arch, ARCH, Arch, Rach, arch, arch-, arch., rach

Atong (India)

Alternative forms

• cha

Etymology

From Hindi ??? (c?r).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??ar/

Numeral

char (Bengali script ???)

1. four

Synonyms

• byryi
• por

References

• van Breugel, Seino. 2015. Atong-English dictionary, second edition. Available online: https://www.academia.edu/487044/Atong_English_Dictionary. Stated in Appendix 3.

Cebuano

Alternative forms

• char baki

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: char

Interjection

char

1. a noncommittal reply to an untrue statement
2. spoken after something one has said that is untrue or highly ridiculous

Esperanto

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t??ar/

Conjunction

char

1. H-system spelling of ?ar

French

Etymology

From Old French char, from Latin carrus, a loan from Transalpine Gaulish. Doublet of car (“coach”), a borrowing from English.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?a?/

Noun

char m (plural chars)

1. chariot, carriage
2. (military) tank
3. (Quebec, Louisiana, Cajun French, Missouri) car, auto

   Synonym: voiture

4. (Louisiana) train car

   Synonym: voiture

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “char” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Irish

Etymology

cha +? -r

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [xa??]

Particle

char (triggers lenition of the following verb)

1. (Ulster) not

Usage notes

Used only in some varieties of Ulster Irish. Used only with the past tense of regular verbs and some irregular verbs.

Synonyms

• níor (used in Munster Irish, Connacht Irish, and some varieties of Ulster Irish)

Related terms

• cha (used before other tenses)

Middle French

Alternative forms

• chair

Etymology

From Old French char, charn.

Noun

char f (plural chars)

1. flesh

Descendants

• French: chair

Old French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /t?ar/
• Rhymes: -ar

Etymology 1

From earlier charn, carn, from Latin carnem, accusative singular of car?.

Alternative forms

• car
• carn (early Old French)
• charn (early Old French)

Noun

char f (oblique plural chars, nominative singular char, nominative plural chars)

1. (anatomy) flesh (tissue from an animal in general)
2. meat (flesh of an animal intended to be eaten)

Descendants

• Middle French: char, chair
  • French: chair

Etymology 2

From Latin carrus.

Alternative forms

• carr

Noun

char m (oblique plural chars, nominative singular chars, nominative plural char)

1. cart

Synonyms

• carre f

Descendants

• French: char

Romani

Noun

char f (plural chara)

1. Alternative form of ?ar

Romansch

Etymology

From Latin c?rus.

Adjective

char m (feminine singular chara, masculine plural chars, feminine plural charas)

1. dear

Welsh

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ar/

Noun

char m

1. aspirate mutation of car (“car”)

Mutation