Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RIV'ER, n.² [Fr. rivière; Arm. rifyer; Corn. ryvier; It. riviera; from L. rivus, rivulus; D. rivier. The Italian word, signifies a river, and a bank or shore, L. ripa, Sp. ribera.]

1. A large stream of water flowing in a channel on land toward the ocean, a lake or another river. It is larger than a rivulet or brook; but is applied to any stream from the size of a mill-stream to that of the Danube, Maranon and Mississippi. We give this name to large streams which admit the tide and mingle salt water with fresh, as the rivers Hudson, Delaware, and St. Lawrence.
2. A large stream; copious flow; abundance; as, rivers of blood; rivers of oil.