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distributary
Sep. 30th, 2024 06:13 amdistributary (dih-STRIB-yoo-ter-ee) - n., a branch of a river that flows away from the main stream.
Typically, but not exclusively, seen in river deltas, as the channels split and spread out -- thus giving a delta its (rough) triangle shape. A famous one in North America is the Atchafalaya River, a distributary of the Mississippi River, one that would switched to being the main channel (instead of the one going through New Orleans) in the latter half of the 20th century if a dam hadn't been built to regulate how much water flow it receives. This is surprisingly old, from around 1540, from distribute + -ary -- though it looks like it may have been re-coined in the 1880s from dis-, away + tributary.
---L.
Typically, but not exclusively, seen in river deltas, as the channels split and spread out -- thus giving a delta its (rough) triangle shape. A famous one in North America is the Atchafalaya River, a distributary of the Mississippi River, one that would switched to being the main channel (instead of the one going through New Orleans) in the latter half of the 20th century if a dam hadn't been built to regulate how much water flow it receives. This is surprisingly old, from around 1540, from distribute + -ary -- though it looks like it may have been re-coined in the 1880s from dis-, away + tributary.
---L.
