affluent

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French affluent, borrowed in turn from Latin affluentem, accusative singular of affluēns, present active participle of affluō (“flow to or towards; overflow with”), from ad (“to, towards”) + fluō (“flow”) (cognate via latter to fluid, flow). Sense of “wealthy” (plentiful flow of goods) c. 1600, which also led to nominalization affluence.

Pronunciation

• (UK)
  • IPA^(key): /ˈæf.lu.ənt/

• (US)
  • enPR: ăf'lo͞o-ənt, IPA^(key): /ˈæfluːənt/

    Audio (US)

    (file)

  • enPR: ă-flo͞o'ənt, ə-flo͞o'ənt, IPA^(key): /æˈfluːənt/, /əˈfluːənt/
  • Although the pronunciation with second-syllable stress does occur in educated U.S. usage, it is appreciably less common than the pronunciation with first-syllable stress and is regarded as unacceptable by many American speakers.

Noun

affluent (plural affluents)

1. Somebody who is wealthy.
   • 1994, Philip D. Cooper, Health care marketing: a foundation for managed quality, page 183:

     The affluents are most similar to the professional want-it-alls in their reasons for preferring specific hospitals and in their demographic characteristics.

2. A stream or river flowing into a larger river or into a lake; a tributary stream; a tributary.
   • 1895, J[ohn] W[esley] Powell, chapter I, in Canyons of the Colorado, Meadville, PA: Flood & Vincent; republished as The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, New York: Dover, 1961, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 20:

     Its sources are everywhere in pine-clad mountains and plateaus, but all of the affluents quickly descend into the desert valley below, through which the Gila winds its way westward to the Colorado.

   • 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World , London, New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

     The affluents of the Amazon are, half of them, of this nature, while the other half are whitish and opaque, the difference depending upon the class of country through which they have flowed.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:moneybags

Translations

Adjective

affluent (comparative more affluent, superlative most affluent)

1. Abundant; copious; plenteous.
   • 1860, Mary Howitt, transl., Life in the Old World:

     The shores are affluent in beauty, and incomparably lovely is the drive to the heights of Castel-a-Mare.

2. (by extension) Abounding in goods or riches; having a moderate level of material wealth.

   They were affluent, but aspired to true wealth.

   • 2013 September-October, Michael Sivak, “Will AC Put a Chill on the Global Energy Supply?”, in American Scientist:

     Nevertheless, it is clear that the global energy demand for air-conditioning will grow substantially as nations become more affluent, with the consequences of climate change potentially accelerating the demand.

   The Upper East Side is an affluent neighborhood in New York City.

3. (dated) Tributary.
4. (obsolete) Flowing to; flowing abundantly.
   • 1672, Gideon Harvey, Morbus Anglicus, Or, The Anatomy of Consumptions:

     affluent blood

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:wealthy

Antonyms

• indigent

Derived terms

Translations

References

French

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.fly.ɑ̃/

• (un affluent)

  (file)

Adjective

affluent (feminine affluente, masculine plural affluents, feminine plural affluentes)

1. tributary

Noun

affluent m (plural affluents)

1. tributary; affluent

Related terms

• affluence
• affluer

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.fly/

Verb

affluent

1. third-person plural present indicative/subjunctive of affluer

Further reading

• “affluent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Latin

Verb

affluent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of affluō