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.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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
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.
Vocabulary lists containing confluence
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100 SAT words Beginning with "C"
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com-, con-
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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.
NHS England says "many factors" influence caesarean births and its "priority is always the safety and wellbeing of both mothers and babies".
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026
"Given caffeine's popularity, we wanted to explore whether additional factors influence its impact on behavioral control."
From Science Daily • Mar. 31, 2026
A wide range of factors influence voting and other political behavior, such as partisanship, political knowledge, identity, concerns about cultural and social change, media consumption, signaling from elites and personal affinity for a given candidate.
From Salon • Mar. 8, 2026
These factors influence how cells behave through subtle chemical changes known as epigenetic modifications.
From Science Daily • Feb. 11, 2026
At least the direction in which those ten factors influence technology seems clear.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
