anabranch

English edit

From ana- (“extracted from anastomosing”) +‎ branch.

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anabranch (plural anabranches)

(hydrology, of a water channel, especially in Australia) A diverging branch of a river, creek, or stream which re-enters the main stream.
- 1834, Colonel Jackson, “Hints on the Subject of Geographical Arrangement and Nomenclature”, in The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, Volume 4:
  Such branches of a river as after separation reunite, I would term anastomosing branches; or, if a word might be coined, anabranches, and the islands they form branch islands.

National Weather Service (2010 March 23 (last accessed)) “Anabranch”, in Glossary, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration