Some words sound like what they mean — onomatopoeia. Which is the sound of something hitting water?

"Splash" is an onomatopoeia that imitates the sharp, sudden sound made when something hits water, capturing that noise directly in its pronunciation. Onomatopoeic words work by mimicking real-world sounds closely enough that speakers intuitively connect the word's sound to the sensory experience it describes.

"Glow" describes a soft light, and "float" describes buoyant movement on a surface — both are visual or physical descriptions rather than sound-imitating words, so neither belongs in the same category as a true onomatopoeia like splash.

English has a rich vocabulary of water-related onomatopoeia beyond splash, including "drip," "plop," and "gurgle," each capturing a subtly different type of sound water makes depending on force, volume, and container.