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confluence

UK/ˈkɒn.flu.əns/US/ˈkɑnˌflu.əns/
nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #12,818 of 15,258mostly written

Other forms: confluences

A confluence is the point where two rivers join. The confluence of the rivers, at the confluence, a confluence of factors.

Cities grow at them, because two routes meet and the water is deep, which is why so many capitals sit at one. Figuratively a confluence of factors is several causes arriving together, and that use is now at least as common.

Vvnataraj · CC BY-SA 3.0

Definitions of confluence

  1. 1nounconfluenceThe point where two rivers join.C1

    “Khartoum lies at the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile.”

confluence is a junction.

Where it comes from

Latin confluentia means a flowing together — con plus fluere, to flow. Fluid and influence are relatives.

  1. Latin

    cōnfluentia — a flowing together, conflux

  2. Middle English

    confluence

  3. English, today

    confluence

Built from

  • cōnfluō · Latin — to flow or run together

From late Middle English confluence, from Latin cōnfluentia (“a flowing together, conflux”), from cōnfluēns + -ia.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Nature & Weather

Practise this word

confluence in the wild

  • Fort Calgary was a North-West Mounted Police outpost at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers in present-day Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

    The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland

  • The confluence of sinuses (Latin: confluens sinuum), torcular Herophili, or torcula is the connecting point of the superior sagittal sinus, straight sinus, and occipital sinus.

    Confluence of sinuses

  • The park is a 85-km corridor that goes along the Finlay River, stretching between the Fox River confluence and the Toodoggone River confluence.

    Finlay-Russel Provincial Park and Protected Area

  • The western boundary is dictated by the flow of the Mississippi river, beginning at the confluence of the Illinois and ending at the confluence of the Missouri.

    River Bend (Illinois)

  • Mayapur is located at the confluence of the Jalanagi and Bhagirathi.

    Jalangi River

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.