affluent, a. and n.
(ˈæfl(j)uːənt)
[a. Fr. affluent (14th c. Godef.), ad. L. affluent-em, pr. pple. of affluĕre: see afflue.]
A. adj.
† 1. Flowing toward a particular place. Obs.
| 1432–50 tr. Higden Rolls Ser. I. 63 The stonys of whom as meltenge thro the veynes of salte mixte among theyme causethe an humor affluente. 1666 Harvey Anat. Consump. (J.) These parts are..raised to a greater bulk by the affluent blood that is transmitted out of the mother's body. 1759 Symmer Electr. in Phil. Trans. LI. 386 The effluent current must have just as great an effect in separating them, as the affluent can have in bringing or keeping them together. |
2. Flowing freely or abundantly.
| 1816 Southey Lay of Laureate Wks. X. 152 And o'er his shoulders broad the affluent mane Dishevell'd hung. 1828 Miss Mitford Our Village iii. (1863) 30 The beautiful Loddon, always so affluent of water, had overflowed its boundaries. 1863 Burton Bk. Hunter 403 In the centre..is an affluent fountain of the clearest water. |
3. fig. Of the gifts of fortune, etc.: Flowing in abundance; abundant, copious, plenteous.
| 1413 Lydg. Pylgr. Sowle i. xv. (1859) 15 Thy grace alwey hath ben affluent, decrecyng nought..though never so largely thou geue it. 1589 Nashe Anat. Absurd. 30 Dilating on so affluent an argument. 1725 Pope Odyss. xix. 135 Their affluent joys the grateful realms confess. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xxxii, My son was already possessed of a very affluent fortune. 1875 Stubbs Const. Hist. II. xvii. 625 The graceful and affluent diversity of the Decorated [style]. |
4. Hence, Flowing or abounding in wealth; wealthy, rich. Also fig. Const. in, rarely of. Freq. in phr. affluent society.
| 1769 Junius Lett. i. 9 No expense should be spared to secure to him an honourable and affluent retreat. 1806 Wilberforce in Life (1838) III. xix. 246 Considering the number of affluent men connected with Pitt. 1831 W. & M. Howitt Seasons 255 The orchards are affluent of pears, plums, and apples. 1837 Disraeli Venetia iv. xiii. (1871) 287 Existence felt to her that moment affluent with a blissful excitement. 1846 Prescott Ferd. & Isab. I. iv. 200 Commodities..beyond the reach of any but the affluent. 1855 H. Reed Lect. Eng. Lit. v. (1878) 173 The language became affluent in expressions incorporated with it from the literature of antiquity. 1958 J. K. Galbraith (title) The affluent society. 1958 Listener 25 Sept. 449/2 Many economists have lifted their eyes..to the coming age of abundance; even more sociologists have inveighed vaguely against the affluent society. 1959 Observer 1 Nov. 1/5 Mr. James Griffiths..attributed Labour's election defeat to its being the party of change at a time when Britain had entered the ‘affluent society’. |
B. n. [The adj. used absol.; prob. after mod.Fr. affluent n.] A stream flowing into a larger stream or lake; a tributary stream; a feeder.
| [Not in Todd 1818, Richardson 1836, Craig 1847.] 1833 Penny Cycl. I. 433 The great Missouri with its affluent the Mississippi. Ibid. The table-land in which the Mississippi and the affluents of Lake Superior rise. 1853 Phillips Rivers of Yorksh. iii. 104 The only remaining affluent of importance on its northern banks, viz. the river Hull. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 4 As the Thames rolls along, it receives a number of these feeders, or affluents. |