/flot"seuhm/ , n.
1. the part of the wreckage of a ship and its cargo found floating on the water. Cf. jetsam, lagan .
2. material or refuse floating on water.
3. useless or unimportant items; odds and ends.
4. a vagrant, penniless population: the flotsam of the city slums in medieval Europe. Also called flotsam and jetsam (for defs. 3, 4).
[ 1600-10; floteson, deriv. of floter to float flotian ]