Crew members and fellow travelers often come from countries where these diseases are more common than in the United States and where vaccination is not routine. Consequently, outbreaks of chickenpox and rubella (German measles) have been reported on cruise ships.
conâ¢fluâ¢ent. 1. flowing or running together; blending into one: confluent rivers; confluent ideas. 2. characterized by confluent efflorescences: confluent smallpox.3. a confluent stream. 4. a tributary stream. confluent-, s. of confluÄns, present participle of confluere to flow together].onâ¢fluâ¢ent. 1. flowing or running together; blending into one: confluent rivers; confluent ideas. 2. characterized by confluent efflorescences: confluent smallpox.
Usage Note: Traditionally, conflate means To bring together; meld or fuse, as in the sentence I have trouble differentiating Jane Austen's heroines; I realized I had conflated Elizabeth Bennet and Emma Woodhouse into a single character in my mind. In our 2015 survey, 87 percent of the Usage Panelists accepted this traditional usage. Recently, a new sense for conflate has emerged, meaning To mistake one thing for another, as if it were a synonym for confuse.