What is the term for the river channel that divides into several branches?

The term that describes a river channel that divides into several branches is known as distributaries. Distributaries occur in river deltas where the main river breaks up and spreads out as it flows into a larger body of water, such as an ocean or lake. This branching allows the sediment carried by the river to be deposited over a wider area, creating new landforms and unique ecosystems.

Deltas are landforms created from the deposition of sediment that occurs where a river meets a standing body of water but do not specifically refer to the channels spreading out. Meanders are bends or curves in a river's course, characterized by the distortion of a river channel due to erosion and deposition, while ox-bows are crescent-shaped lakes formed when a meander is cut off from the river. Thus, the correct term for the division of a river into multiple channels is indeed distributaries.