Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tributary

/ˈtɹɪbjʊtəɹi/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.15 in modern English

Syllables
trib-u-tary
IPA
/ˈtɹɪbjʊtəɹi/
14
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A natural water stream that flows into a larger river or other body of water.

noun

A vein which drains into another vein.

noun

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

adj

Related to the paying of tribute.

adj

Subordinate; inferior.

adj

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

Example Sentences

Etymology

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

Origin

Word Breakdown

  • Root: tributarie, tribūtārius

Inflected Forms

tributaries (plural)

Derived Forms

palaeotributary tributaryless nontributary tributarily tributariness untributary

Phrases

left tributary right tributary tributary load tributary state

Frequently Paired Words

distributary tribute

Synonyms

affluent influent conducive contributing contributive contributory feeder confluent

Antonyms

distributary

Questions

How do you pronounce tributary?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˈtɹɪbjʊtəɹi/.
What does tributary mean?
A natural water stream that flows into a larger river or other body of water.
Where does tributary come from?
It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce tributary

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “tributary”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈtɹɪbjʊtəɹi/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “tributary”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “tributary” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.