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I've googled for a while and on some sites I've found the word "watershed" as the proposed word. Is it the word that best suits it?

Lauren
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mannyee
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    A watershed is a line where rain water is divided (i.e. will it flow into one valley to the river there, or to the other valley), so typically found atop hills. – Simon Richter May 16 '11 at 10:00
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    A watershed is the area of land where water drains to a common point. A divide is the line that divides watersheds. – Jay Elston May 16 '11 at 22:30
  • @JayElston While ODO gives both senses, the primary one is the dividing feature. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/watershed In my experience of UK English we would genereally use 'water catchment' for the second sense. – Spagirl Jan 17 '17 at 11:00

5 Answers5

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In geography, a confluence is the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where two streams flow together, merging into a single stream.

Ed Guiness
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  • +1 Nice answer... This question also reminded me of when i used to study Geography earlier in my student career :D – Alenanno May 16 '11 at 08:49
  • Indeed it reminded of my geography classes too while at primary school...but since it's way too back...I forgot it. – mannyee May 16 '11 at 09:57
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    I didn't seriously study any geography, but I do use Atlassian's Wiki which is named Confluence. – Ed Guiness May 16 '11 at 10:21
  • Flannery O'Conner wrote that "confluence" was one of her favorite words. Easy to see why - it's a strong metaphor. – The Raven May 16 '11 at 13:44
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    @The Raven Yes it is, and onomatopoeic, to my ears at least. – Ed Guiness May 16 '11 at 15:26
  • @Ed Guinness - I was once at a job where we used that for the workgroup's Wiki. In light of this geographical meaning i think its a pretty good name. A point where all team members can cooperate/share/merge/etc – jon_darkstar May 18 '11 at 02:11
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You can also use the word junction, as in the

junction of the Grand and the Green

near Moab, Utah.

Jay Elston
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It can either be a tributary or a distributary, where a river joins another or separate from one respectively.

It is called a confluence. A tributary is a smaller river joining a larger one. A distributary is a river flowing into the sea.

zainab
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  • More specifically, a tributary is a small river or stream joining the main river –  May 17 '11 at 08:07
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You could also use the word "fork" which is less formal. A watershed is all of the land area that a given body of water drains.

Christopher Buerkett
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It could also be an "estuary":

[A] partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.

Mateen Ulhaq
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Antonio
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    That's pretty far from "a place where two rivers meet", since it does not require more than one river, and does require the open sea. – LarsH May 17 '11 at 01:40