fluvial

adjective

flu·​vi·​al ˈflü-vē-əl How to pronounce fluvial (audio)
1
: of, relating to, or living in a stream or river
2
: produced by the action of a stream
a fluvial plain

Examples of fluvial in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Such declines could also wreck fluvial ecosystems sustained by shallow underground water, including the wetlands and rivers on which millions of Africans depend for fish and other resources. Fred Pearce, WIRED, 9 Mar. 2024 There will be others, like a fluvial clock marking time the way a river system might. Longreads, 9 Feb. 2024 The lightning speed of thought transference among them is par with their smooth choreography – a fluvial transition of personal relationships into professional ones. Tanu I. Raj, Billboard, 15 July 2022 Hama Soor led the group along a path that skirted both the main road and the factory, following a fluvial terrace and entering, by way of a cemetery, a village at the base of the mountains. New York Times, 20 Apr. 2022 BDAs are certainly not a replacement for beavers, notes Joe Wheaton, a fluvial geomorphologist at Utah State University and one of the scientists who developed the analogues. Isobel Whitcomb, Scientific American, 7 Feb. 2022 The firm gave the house a variety of fluvial touches in a nod to the river’s winding, serpentine-like path through Riverside, including winding side rails on the staircase and winding designs on the kitchen cabinets. Jade Yan, chicagotribune.com, 12 Aug. 2021 Pluvial flooding is flash floods; fluvial is when the lake rises. Paul Ford, Wired, 6 Aug. 2021 As a result, the riverbed just downstream of Old River Control has risen by about 1.5 meters, according to Bo Wang, a fluvial geomorphologist now at Brown University. Fred Pearce, Science | AAAS, 13 May 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fluvial.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin fluvialis, from fluvius river, from fluere

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of fluvial was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near fluvial

Cite this Entry

“Fluvial.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fluvial. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on fluvial

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!