confluence

English

Alternative forms

• (biology): confluency

Etymology

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

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒn.flu.əns/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑnˌflu.əns/, /kənˈflu.əns/
• Rhymes: -ɒnfluəns, -uːəns

Noun

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.

      We encountered an abandoned boat at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.

      Synonym: watersmeet

      Antonyms: fork, branch

   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.

   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.

   Synonym: coinfluence

   Hyponym: confluence of sinuses

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

• conflux

Derived terms

• hyperconfluence
• nonconfluence
• overconfluence
• postconfluence
• preconfluence
• subconfluence

 

Related terms

• affluence
• confluent
• confluently
• effluence
• influence
• refluence

 

Translations

point where two rivers or streams meet

• Aromanian: measticã f
• Bengali: সঙ্গম (bn) (śoṅgom), বেণি (bn) (beni)
• Bulgarian: слива́не (bg) n (sliváne)
• Catalan: confluència (ca) f
• Central Melanau: kala
• Cornish: kemper m
• Czech: soutok (cs) m
• Esperanto: kunfluejo
• Estonian: liitumiskoht
• Finnish: yhtymäkohta (fi)
• French: confluent (fr) m, confluence (fr) f
• Galician: confluencia f, mestas f pl
• German: Zusammenfluss (de) m
• Gujarati: વેણી m (veṇī), સંગમ m (saṅgam)
• Hebrew: מפגש נהרות (mifgash neharot)
• Hungarian: torkolat (hu)
• Iranun: minanga
• Irish: suaithneamh f
• Japanese: 合流点 (gōryūten)
• Latin: confluens m
• Malay: kuala (ms)
• Malayalam: സംഗമം (ml) (saṅgamaṁ)
• Manx: co-strooan f
• Maori: pūau, pūtahitanga, komititanga o ngā wai, pūruatanga
• Nepali: दोभान (ne) (dobhān)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: samløp n

  Nynorsk: samløp n

• Polish: zbieg (pl) m, konfluencja f
• Portuguese: confluência (pt) f
• Romanian: confluență (ro) f
• Russian: слия́ние (ru) n (slijánije)
• Slovak: sútok m
• Spanish: confluencia (es) f
• Swedish: sammanflöde (sv) n, konfluens c (obsolete)
• Tamil: ஆற்றுச்சந்தி (ta) (āṟṟuccanti)
• Tulu: kudala (kudala)
• Walloon: maxhe (wa) f
• Welsh: aber (cy) f, cydlifiad m
• West Coast Bajau: boa' soang

convergence or combination

• Bulgarian: стича́не (bg) n (stičáne)
• Cornish: kemper m
• Finnish: yhdistäminen (fi), yhdistyminen (fi)
• French: confluent (fr) m, convergence (fr) f
• Hungarian: egyesítés (hu)
• Maori: tūtakitanga
• Norwegian: konfluens m
• Portuguese: confluência (pt) f
• Russian: стече́ние (ru) n (stečénije)
• Swedish: konfluens c

References

• “confluence”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “confluence”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

confluence f (plural confluences)

1. confluence

Further reading

• “confluence”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.