Tribute Was Money Paid to Avoid Being Attacked
A tribute is an act of respect. It began as a payment made by one state to another, usually under threat.
A tribute is something said or done to show respect. Its origin is less warm: a tribute was a payment made by a subject state to a dominant one, often to avoid invasion. The compliment sense grew out of the idea of something owed, and the payment sense survives in *tributary*, a river paying into a larger one.
- An act of respect. *A fitting tribute.*
- A payment by a subject state. *Cities paid tribute to Rome.*
- Tribute band — one performing another's music. *A Queen tribute band.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | tribute | A moving tribute. |
| Plural | tributes | Tributes were paid. |
| Adjective | tributary | A tributary state. |
| Noun | tributary | A tributary of the Rhine. |
| Related | contribute | Contribute to the fund. |
How it is used in a sentence
- Colleagues paid tribute to her work.Pay tribute is the standard phrase.
- The Thames has many tributaries.Rivers paying in.
- They play in a tribute band.Music.
The paying family
- Tribute — a payment or a mark of respect
- Tributary — a river feeding a larger one
- Contribute — pay in alongside others
- Attribute — assign to a source
- Distribute — pay or hand out
From Latin *tributum*, a payment, from *tribuere*, to allot or assign, originally to divide among the *tribus*, the tribes of Rome.
Why is a river called a tributary?
Because it pays its water into the main river, exactly as a tributary state paid into a dominant one.
Tribute or memorial?
A tribute is an act or expression of respect. A memorial is something built or held to preserve memory.