pontoon

pontoon

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɒnˈtuːn/

• Audio (US)

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Etymology 1

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

Noun

pontoon (plural pontoons)

1. (military) A flat-bottomed boat used as a support for a temporary bridge.
2. A floating structure supporting a bridge or dock.

   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.

Translations

support for a temporary bridge

Chinese: Mandarin: 浮筒 (zh) (fútǒng) Finnish: ponttoni French: ponton (fr) m, flotteur (fr) m German: Ponton (de) m Hungarian: ponton (hu) Irish: pontún m

Japanese: ポンツーン (pontsūn) Norwegian: Bokmål: pongtong m Nynorsk: pongtong m Romanian: ponton (ro) n Russian: понто́н (ru) m (pontón)

floating structure supporting a bridge or dock

Finnish: ponttoni German: Ponton (de) m Irish: pontún m Italian: pontone m Norwegian: Bokmål: pongtong m, (landing stage) flytebrygge m or f Nynorsk: pongtong m, (landing stage) flytebrygge f, flytebryggje f

Portuguese: pontão m Romanian: ponton (ro) Russian: понто́н (ru) m (pontón)

box used to raise a sunken vessel

Finnish: ponttoni Irish: pontún m

Romanian: ponton (ro) Russian: понто́н (ru) m (pontón)

float of a seaplane

Finnish: ilmatyyny (fi) Irish: pontún m Maori: kōrewa Norwegian: Bokmål: pongtong m Nynorsk: pongtong m

Russian: поплаво́к (ru) m (poplavók)

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