mid-14c., "a plentiful flowing, an abundant supply," from Old French affluence, from Latin affluentia "affluence, abundance," literally "a flowing to," abstract noun from affluentem (nominative affluens) "flowing toward; abounding, rich, copious" (see affluent). The notion in the figurative Latin sense is of "a plentiful flow" of the gifts of fortune, hence "wealth, abundance of earthly goods," a sense attested in English from c. 1600.