confluence

American  

[kon-floo-uhns] / ˈkɒn flu əns /

Also conflux

noun

• confluences
  plural

1. a flowing together of two or more streams, rivers, or the like.

   the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

2. their place of junction.

   St. Louis is at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.

3. a body of water formed by the flowing together of two or more streams, rivers, or the like.

4. a coming together of people or things; concourse.

   Synonyms:

   meeting, union

5. a crowd or throng; assemblage.

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confluence British  

/ ˈkɒnflʊəns /

noun

1. a merging or flowing together, esp of rivers

2. a gathering together, esp of people

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confluence Scientific  

/ kŏn′flo̅o̅-əns /

1. A flowing together of two or more streams or two or more glaciers.

2. The point of juncture of such streams or glaciers.

3. The combined stream or glacier formed by this juncture.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• confluences
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of confluence

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin confluentia, from Latin confluent-, stem of confluēns “flowing together” ( see confluent) + -ia -ia

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Explanation

Confluence means a flowing together. In a literal sense, it's about rivers. But it's more often used to talk about the coming together of factors or ideas, or of cultures in a diverse city. Con- means "with," and -fluence sounds like "flow." When things come together like rivers do, flowing from entirely different places, you call that a confluence. If the senior class needs to raise money for a class trip, and the drama club is looking for someone to do concessions during intermission at the school play, that's a confluence of factors.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

confluence confluences

Long-term competitive advantage, if such a thing even exists, is increasingly difficult to achieve and depends upon a confluence of factors, according to Smith.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

It makes about as much sense as Tommy, a human, realizing he is somehow one of Vision’s sons due to a confluence of magic and circumstance.

From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2026

The scramble for safety was attributed to a confluence of factors suddenly plaguing the market all at once.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 22, 2026

It blamed an "unusual confluence of developments that has impaired investor confidence in the market for new public offerings".

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

She came at last to a confluence of shabby streets which she assumed from the detached quarter of her map was Stockwell.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

For Boggs, Baldwin’s nonfiction informed his fiction; there are “continuities and confluences between and across his work in both genres.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2025

Harel's focus on the confluences of Darwin's life rather than its conflicts offers a refreshing take on his legacy.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 15, 2022

So it has a lot of really wonderful confluences.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 5, 2021

Occasions formed confluences with other occasions: social, political, and personal themes that would make "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" more than just a movie.

From Salon ● May 26, 2019

And he came out into a great amphitheater into which jutted huge towering corners of a confluences of intersecting canyons.

From Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey

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Related Words

• assemblage
• junction

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