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confluence

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From late Middle English confluence, from Late Latin cōnfluentia (“a flowing together, conflux”), from cōnfluēns (present participle of cōnfluō (“to flow or run together”)) +‎ -ia (nominal suffix).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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confluence (plural confluences)

  1. The act of combining that occurs where two rivers meet.
    The confluence of the rivers produced a great rush of water.
    1. The place where two rivers, streams, or other continuously flowing bodies of water meet and become one, especially where a tributary joins a river.
      Synonym: watersmeet
      Antonyms: fork, branch
      We encountered an abandoned boat at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.
      • 1937 July, “An Outline of the Manchoukuo-Soviet Border Controversy”, in Contemporary Manchuria: A Bi-Monthly Magazine, volume 1, number 2, Dairen: South Manchuria Railway Company, →OCLC, page 31:
        There has been much controversy especially as to the ownership of the large triangular delta at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri Rivers, known as the Khabarovsk Delta, or Heihsiatzu [translating 黑瞎子 (Hēixiāzi)] Island in Chinese.
    2. The stream or body formed by the junction of two or more streams; a combined flood.
  2. A convergence or combination of forces, people, or things.
    Synonym: coinfluence
    Hyponym: confluence of sinuses
    The confluence of our skills resulted in a successful home renovation project.
    The political turmoil was the result of a confluence of factors, and the corollary of years of misrule, as evidenced by a low home ownership rate incommensurate with the economic growth.
    • 2008, Harriet A. Washington, “Southern Discomfort”, in Medical Apartheid‎[1], Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, page 41:
      The South was the nadir of the American medical experience, visited by a deadly triple confluence—the pathogens of North America, Europe, and Africa.
  3. (biology) The proportion of cells, in a culture medium, that adhere to each other.
  4. (computer science, in rewriting systems) A property describing which terms can be rewritten with other, equivalent terms.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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confluence (third-person singular simple present confluences, present participle confluencing, simple past and past participle confluenced)

  1. (intransitive, transitive) To join together into one stream.
    • 1996 December, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, US Route 220 Transportation Improvements Project, Bald Eagle Village to I-80, Blair County, Centre County: Environmental Impact Statement, volume 3, page 41:
      CHN 082 flows for approximately 304.8 meters (1,000 feet) before confluencing with the North Bald Eagle Creek.
    • 2025 February 4, Grady Hilhouse, “What’s Inside a Manhole?” (5:59 from the start), in Practical Engineering‎[2]:
      I added a third manhole to my model so you can see how a junction might look. It just provides a nice way to confluence two streams into one pipe, which is an important job in a sewer system since a sewershed all has to flow to one place.

References

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French

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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confluence f (plural confluences)

  1. confluence

Further reading

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