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Entry 6 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Tributary

/trĭb'-yət-ĕrˌ-ē/ · Trib·u·ta·ry · IPA /ˈtɹɪbjʊtəɹi/
01 a. Paying tribute to another, either from compulsion, as an acknowledgment of submission, or to secure protection, or for the purpose of purch…
  1. 1.
    Paying tribute to another, either from compulsion, as an acknowledgment of submission, or to secure protection, or for the purpose of purchasing peace.
    “[Julius] unto Rome made them tributary.” — Chaucer.
  2. 2.
    Hence, subject; subordinate; inferior.
    “He to grace his tributary gods.” — Milton.
  3. 3.
    Paid in tribute.
  4. 4.
    Yielding supplies of any kind; serving to form or make up, a greater object of the same kind, as a part, branch, etc.; contributing; as, the Ohio has many tributary streams, and is itself tributary to the Mississippi.
02 n. A ruler or state that pays tribute, or a stated sum, to a conquering power, for the purpose of securing peace and protection, or as an ackn…
pl. Tributaries
  1. 1.
    A ruler or state that pays tribute, or a stated sum, to a conquering power, for the purpose of securing peace and protection, or as an acknowledgment of submission, or for the purchase of security.
  2. 2.
    A stream or river flowing into a larger river or into a lake; an affluent.