Definition of tributary
- a. - Paying tribute to another, either from compulsion, as an
acknowledgment of submission, or to secure protection, or for the
purpose of purchasing peace.
- a. - Hence, subject; subordinate; inferior.
- a. - Paid in tribute.
- a. - 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.
- 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 acknowledgment of submission, or for the purchase of security.
- n. - A stream or river flowing into a larger river or into a
lake; an affluent.