confluence
Americannoun
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a flowing together of two or more streams, rivers, or the like.
the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
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their place of junction.
St. Louis is at the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
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a body of water formed by the flowing together of two or more streams, rivers, or the like.
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a coming together of people or things; concourse.
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a crowd or throng; assemblage.
noun
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a merging or flowing together, esp of rivers
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a gathering together, esp of people
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A flowing together of two or more streams or two or more glaciers.
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The point of juncture of such streams or glaciers.
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The combined stream or glacier formed by this juncture.
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” ( confluent ) + -ia -ia
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Where tall acacias once cast cool shade over a wetland just upstream from the confluence of the Blue and White Nile, barren ground now lies exposed, criss-crossed by people gathering whatever wood remains.
From Barron's
She has since chalked it up to a confluence of factors, from weather to Covid to the strangeness of competing in China, far away from the World Cup circuit.
George Atallah attended 16 consecutive Super Bowls when he was an executive at the NFL Players Association, and he laughed hysterically when he learned about this confluence of events.
While apart, their working lives — his at sea, hers on land — speak to a confluence of the elemental and the man-made.
From Los Angeles Times
This system worked well until 2019, when a confluence of corporate tax payments and Treasury settlements triggered a scramble for cash.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
