See Also: tribute(medicine)
tribute(dictionary)
tribute(dictionary)
TRIBUTE(law)

tribute (iou)



tribute noun & verb. LME.
[Latin tributum use as noun of neut. of tributus pa. pple of tribuere assign, allot, grant, (lit. 'divide among the tribes'), from tribus TRIBE noun.]
A. noun.
Hist.
a. A payment made periodically by one State or ruler to another as a sign of dependence or submission or to ensure peace and protection; money or goods paid periodically by a subject to his sovereign or a vassal to his lord. LME.
T. H. White The Dictator of Rome..had sent an embassy asking for tribute from Arthur.
b. (An) obligation to pay this. LME.
Robert Hall His imperial fancy has laid all nature under tribute.
transf. & fig. Something said, done, or given as a mark of respect or affection etc. L16.
P. Fitzgerald He wore..a..peasant's blouse, a tribute to the memory of Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy. Times Floral tributes following the passing away of..Mr Jayant.
b. A thing attributable to or indicative of a praiseworthy quality etc. E20.
Times It is a tribute to the success of the Territorial experiment..that these squadrons should have been chosen.
Mining. A proportion of ore raised, or its equivalent value, paid to a miner for his work, or to the owner of the mine or the land. L18.
work on tribute work under the system of paying or receiving certain proportions of the produce.
Comb.: tribute-money: paid as tribute.
b. verb.
verb intrans. & trans. Pay (something) as tribute. rare. LME-M17.
verb intrans. Mining. Work on tribute. M19.
tributor, tributer noun (a) a person who pays tribute; (b) a miner who works on tribute: L15.