Euphrates

American  

[yoo-frey-teez] / yuˈfreɪ tiz /

noun

1. a river in SW Asia, flowing from E Turkey through Syria and Iraq, joining the Tigris to form the Shatt-al-Arab near the Persian Gulf. 1,700 miles (2,735 km) long.

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Euphrates British  

/ juːˈfreɪtiːz /

noun

1. a river in SW Asia, rising in E Turkey and flowing south across Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris, forming the Shatt-al-Arab, which flows to the head of the Persian Gulf: important in ancient times for the extensive irrigation of its valley (in Mesopotamia). Length: 3598 km (2235 miles)

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Other Word Forms

• Euphratean adjective
• trans-Euphrates adjective

Example Sentences

The major air corridor over the Euphrates Valley in Iraq was empty.

From Barron's • Mar. 2, 2026

Dozens of residents crossed the Euphrates in boats after two bridges were destroyed, while residents toppled a statue of a woman erected by Kurdish forces.

From Barron's • Jan. 19, 2026

Meanwhile Syrian authorities accused the SDF of blowing up two bridges on the Euphrates River, including the new al-Rashid bridge in the city of Raqqa.

From BBC • Jan. 18, 2026

The current offensive, which began Friday night, unspooled quickly as the SDF withdrew its fighters from some areas south of the Euphrates and east of the city of Aleppo.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 18, 2026

One test comes from an archaeological site at the edge of the Euphrates Valley in Syria, called Tell Abu Hureyra.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond