tributary meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

tributary

noun

/ˈtɹɪbjʊtəɹi/

Etymology PIE word *tréyes From Middle English tributarie (“paying tribute”), from Latin tribūtārius, from tribūtum (“tribute”).

Geography, Hydrology, Natural sciences A natural water stream that flows into a larger river or other body of water.

Anatomy, Medicine, Sciences A vein which drains into another vein.

A nation, state, or other entity that pays tribute.

An earneſt Coniuration from the King, / As England was his faithfull Tributaryc. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii], page 259, column 2:

Derived terms: left tributary, palaeotributary, right tributary, tributaryless
Related terms: distributary

adj

Etymology PIE word *tréyes From Middle English tributarie (“paying tribute”), from Latin tribūtārius, from tribūtum (“tribute”).

Related to the paying of tribute.

Subordinate; inferior.

to grace his tributary gods1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, […], published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus: […] (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:

Yielding supplies of any kind; serving to form or make up, a greater object of the same kind, as a part, branch, etc.; contributing.

The Ohio has many tributary streams, and is itself tributary to the Mississippi.

Derived terms: nontributary, palaeotributary, tributarily, tributariness, tributaryless, tributary load, tributary state, untributary
Related terms: tribute

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.