Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
💧 Carried by water 🚢 Floating on water
waterborne

waterborne

1 3.9
A craft or object that floats on water like a boat
  • adjective
  • /ˈwɔːtərˌbɔrn/
: flotante
  • They can self-reproduce and have mobility across the water surface, being both earthed and waterborne.

Examples

  • Children can often be seen playing in waterborne crafts during the summer.

  • In the US, however, with our advanced civilization, we take running water and waterborne sewage as a basic necessity of life.

    Blog text (27)

  • FDOH has had a unique Food and Waterborne Disease Program in place since 1994, offering surveillance, investigation, and training assistance to the state's 67 county health departments.

    Academic text (2005)

  • The waterborne ferry made trips across the river every hour.

  • Waterborne vessels are essential for transporting goods in coastal regions.

Synonyms

buoyant
vswaterborne
  • Specialized
6 5.3

Able to float in water or rise in air

is limited to items kept up by water, not those rising in air
floatable
vswaterborne
1 3.2

Can float on water or stay in the air

describes items actually supported by water rather than merely able to stay on it
flotant
vswaterborne
  • Archaic
8.2

Floating on water without sinking

is used for items supported by water rather than resting on land
afloat
vswaterborne
3.4

Covered with water after heavy rain or a flood

refers to items kept up by water rather than soaked through or flooded

How Buoyant

buoyant
  • Specialized
6 5.3
waterborne
1 3.9

Surface Forms

waterborne positive

Morphology

waterborne = water + borne (transparent) = water + borne

A straightforward compound of 'water' + 'borne' meaning supported on or carried by water, so the meaning is directly derivable from the parts.

Etymology

Waterborne comes from the parts water and borne, where borne means 'carried' and you can see the same borne in airborne. So a waterborne craft is one that is 'carried' or 'floats on water'.