jettison
UK[ˈdʒet.ɪ.sən]US[ˈdʒet̬.ə.sən]
v
to throw goods, fuel, or equipment from a ship, aircraft, or vehicle in order to make it lighter in an emergency
v
to get rid of something or someone that is not wanted or needed
Etymology
the word 'jettison' entered english in the 15th century from the anglo-french noun 'getteson', which itself derived from the old french verb 'getter' or 'jeter', meaning 'to throw'. this old french term has its roots in the latin verb 'iactare', a frequentative form of 'iacere', meaning 'to throw, cast'. the semantic journey is direct: from the literal act of throwing goods overboard to lighten a ship in distress, the term evolved metaphorically to describe the deliberate discarding of any burdensome or unwanted ideas, plans, or objects. the modern spelling with a 'j' was influenced by later french orthography.
Analysis
the word is a simplex loanword where the morphemes are not productively separable in modern english spelling.
Examples
the pilot was forced to jettison the fuel tanks to avoid a crash landing.
the company decided to jettison its outdated marketing strategy.
to survive the crisis, they had to jettison all non-essential projects.