TRIBUTARY

tributary. Tributary, a. paying tribute, paid, subject, contributing, furnishing a part

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Trib″u‐ta‐ry (?), a. [[OE. tributaire, F. tributaire, L. tributarius. See Tribute.]] 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.
unto Rome made them tributary. Chaucer. 2. 2. Hence, subject; subordinate; inferior.
He to grace his tributary gods. Milton. 3. 3. Paid in tribute. “Tributary tears.” Shak.
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.