confluence

noun con·flu·ence \ ˈkän-ˌflü-ən(t)s , kən-ˈflü- \

|Updated on: 8 Jul 2018

Examples: confluence in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of confluence

1 : a coming or flowing together, meeting, or gathering at one point

a happy confluence of weather and scenery

a confluence of cultures

2 a : the flowing together of two or more streams

b : the place of meeting of two streams

the Mississippi River's confluence with the Missouri River

c : the combined stream formed by conjunction

See confluence defined for English-language learners

See confluence defined for kids

Examples of confluence in a Sentence

the Mississippi River's confluence with the Missouri River
a happy confluence of beautiful weather and spectacular scenery during our vacation

Recent Examples of confluence from the Web

Sakharov was confined for seven years to a modest apartment around Gagarina Prospekt, an avenue about a 25-minute drive from the new World Cup stadium located at the confluence of the Volga and Oka rivers.

— stephen wade, Fox News, "Nizhny Novgorod: Soviet 'closed city' teems with tourists," 30 June 2018
Lumber prices have increased due to a confluence of factors.

— ben tobin, USA TODAY, "Home buyers hit by lumber prices near record highs," 22 June 2018
Examples of this unfortunate confluence are exceedingly rare.

— shannon tompkins, Houston Chronicle, "Wildlife is wild, so admire from afar," 13 June 2018
Each tour takes customers from a site near downtown Sacramento to the American River confluence before reversing course.

— benjy egel, sacbee, "Booze cruise that doubles as a workout? Here's the latest way to enjoy the Sacramento River," 7 June 2018
Located at the confluence of the White and Blue Niles is Khartoum, Sudan’s capital and the center of author Jamal Mahjoub’s new book, A Line in the River: Khartoum, City of Memory.

— asia london palomba, The Christian Science Monitor, "'A Line in the River' tells the story of Khartoum, one of the world's most troubled cities," 14 May 2018
Another Hamilton County park, but this one has some interesting Native American history and a spectacular view of the confluence of the Great Miami River and Ohio River.

— carrie blackmore smith, Cincinnati.com, "Hey Cincinnati, enjoy the warmer weather on one of these winter hikes," 19 Jan. 2018
The confluence of homelessness and hepatitis, again A different twist on San Diego's homeless-hepatitis...

— david garrick, sandiegouniontribune.com, "Politics & Government," 16 June 2018
Native American Burial Grounds at Wyalusing State Park High atop the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers on ancient blufftops lies Wyalusing State Park.

— carla minsky, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Travel is Good for the Soul," 10 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'confluence.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

The joining of rivers—as at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, where the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers flow together spectacularly—was the original meaning of confluence, and in its later meanings we still hear a strong echo of the physical merging of waters. So today we can speak of a confluence of events, a confluence of interests, a confluence of cultures, and so on, from which something important often emerges.