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Flotsam and Jetsam: Definition thereof
Even though they became popular as metaphors among landlubbers, "flotsam" and "jetsam" were both originally nautical terms. "Flotsam" (from the Anglo-French "floteson," in turn from the Old French "floter," to float) is, strictly speaking, the wreckage of a ship (or its cargo) found floating on the surface of the sea. More generally, "flotsam" can be used for any sort of floating debris. "Flotsam" is presumed to be of accidental origin.
"Jetsam," however, is deliberate (if often not entirely voluntary) in origin. "Jetsam" is actually a form of the word "jettison," and originally referred to cargo or other goods thrown overboard to lighten a vessel in distress. (Of course, if that didn't work, the whole shebang often became "flotsam.") The current "sam" ending of "jetsam" was almost certainly modeled on "flotsam." "Flotsam" dates to the 17th century, "jetsam" to the 16th (in the intermediate form “jetson”), and the distinction between the two has historically been important in maritime salvage law.
(Definition complements of The Word Detective)
