1. (a.) Paying tribute to another, either from compulsion, as an acknowledgment of submission, or to secure protection, or for the purpose of purchasing peace.

2. (a.) Hence, subject; subordinate; inferior.

3. (a.) Paid in tribute.

4. (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.

5. (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.

6. (n.) A stream or river flowing into a larger river or into a lake; an affluent.

accessory affluent bayou beck billabong branch brook burn client collateral confluent confluent stream conquered creek dendritic drainage pattern dependent effluent feeder feudal feudatory fork inferior kill liege minor offshoot prong rill rivulet run runlet runnel satellite secondary servile streamlet sub subdued subject subjugated subordinate subservient under vanquished vassal