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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Flotation \Flo*ta"tion\, n. [Cf. F. flottation a floating,
flottaison water line, fr. flotter to float. See {Flotilla}.]
1. The act, process, or state of floating.
[1913 Webster]

2. The science of floating bodies.
[1913 Webster]

3. (Com. & Finance) Act of financing, or floating, a
commercial venture or an issue of bonds, stock, or the
like.
[Webster 1913 Suppl.]

{Center of flotation}. (Shipbuilding)
(a) The center of any given plane of flotation.
(b) More commonly, the middle of the length of the load
water line. --Rankine.

{Plane of flotation}, or {Line of flotation}, the plane or
line in which the horizontal surface of a fluid cuts a
body floating in it. See {Bearing}, n., 9
(c) .

{Surface of flotation} (Shipbuilding), the imaginary surface
which all the planes of flotation touch when a vessel
rolls or pitches; the envelope of all such planes.
[1913 Webster]