The Floating Abigails

Float·ing [floh-ting]
–adjective
1. having little or no attachment to a particular place; moving from one place to another.
2. not fixed or settled in a definite place or state.
3. Machinery:
a. having a soft suspension greatly reducing vibrations between the suspended part and its support.
b. working smoothly.
[Origin: 1555–65; float + -ing2]
Ab·i·gail [ab-i-geyl]
-noun
fem. proper name, in O.T., Abigail the Carmelitess, a wife of David, from Heb. Abhigayil, lit. "my father is rejoicing," from abh "father" + gil "to rejoice." Used in general sense of "lady's maid" (1666) from character of that name in Beaumont & Fletcher's "The Scornful Lady." The waiting maid association perhaps begins with I Sam. xxv, where David's wife often calls herself a "handmaid."
[Origin: 1645–55; after Abigail, name of attendant in play The Scornful Lady (1610), by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher]