Euphrates

American  

[yoo-frey-teez] / juˈfreɪ 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

Farmer Issa al-Moussa walks among his damaged wheat crop in eastern Syria after the nearby Euphrates River flooded in recent days due to heavy rainfall and increased flows from Turkey.

From Barron's • Jun. 2, 2026

Syrian forces took from the SDF a military base, oil facilities and a dam on the Euphrates River, weakening the Kurdish group’s negotiating hand over the future of its thousands of fighters.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 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

They entered the town of Tabqa on the south-western bank of the Euphrates and nearby dam on Saturday.

From BBC • Jan. 18, 2026

This explanation was suggested by the undoubted fact that the earliest known empires and writing systems arose in the Tigris and Euphrates Valleys of the Fertile Crescent and in the Nile Valley of Egypt.

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