Flotation

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 ]