pontoon

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɒnˈtuːn/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːn

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French ponton, from Old French ponton, from Latin pontō, pontōnem (“ferryboat”), from pōns (“bridge”).

Noun

pontoon (plural pontoons)

1. A flat-bottomed boat or other floating structure used as a buoyant support for a temporary bridge, dock or landing stage.
2. (by extension) A bridge with floating supports.

   Synonym: pontoon bridge

3. A box used to raise a sunken vessel.
4. A float of a seaplane.
5. A lighter or barge used for loading or unloading ships.

Derived terms

• pontoon party
• tritoon

Translations

buoyant support for a temporary bridge, dock or landing stage

• Albanian: argsh (sq)
• Belarusian: панто́н m (pantón)
• Bulgarian: понто́н m (pontón)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 浮筒 (zh) (fútǒng)

• Czech: ponton m
• Danish: ponton (da) c
• Finnish: ponttoni (fi)
• French: ponton (fr) m, flotteur (fr) m
• German: Ponton (de) m
• Hungarian: ponton (hu)
• Irish: pontún m
• Japanese: ポンツーン (pontsūn)
• Macedonian: понтон m (ponton)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pongtong m, (landing stage) flytebrygge m or f

  Nynorsk: pongtong m, (landing stage) flytebrygge f, flytebryggje f

• Polish: ponton (pl) m
• Portuguese: pontão (pt) m
• Romanian: ponton (ro) n
• Russian: понто́н (ru) m (pontón)
• Slovak: pontón m
• Spanish: pontón (es) m
• Swedish: ponton (sv) c
• Ukrainian: понто́н m (pontón)

bridge with floating supports — see pontoon bridge

box used to raise a sunken vessel

• Bulgarian: понто́н m (pontón)
• Finnish: ponttoni (fi)
• Irish: pontún m
• Romanian: ponton (ro)
• Russian: понто́н (ru) m (pontón)
• Swedish: ponton (sv) c

float of a seaplane

• Finnish: ilmatyyny (fi)
• Irish: pontún m
• Maori: kōrewa
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: pongtong m

  Nynorsk: pongtong m

• Polish: pływak (pl) m
• Russian: поплаво́к (ru) m (poplavók)
• Swedish: ponton (sv) c

Etymology 2

Probably from vingt-un, an obsolete variant of vingt-et-un (“twenty-one”), from French.

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.

   Synonym: vingt-et-un

See also

• baccarat
• blackjack
• twenty-one