-arius

connected with; a person concerned with

Forms

-arius
-ary — The ending shortened in French and English.
-aire — One French development of the ending.

Origin

A Latin ending for relationships, occupations, and associated things.

Note

Its descendants can name a person, a place, or a quality; the surrounding word determines the contribution.

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noun / adjective

tributary

TRIB-yuh-tair-ee/ˈtrɪbjəteri/

A stream flowing into a larger stream.

The narrow tributary flows into the larger river.

An elevated view of a narrow stream joining a much wider river, with natural current streaks visibly merging downstream rather than branching apart.

Etymology

tributLatintribute, payment, contribution

+aryLatinconnected with; a person concerned with

Tributary first described someone or something owing tribute. Applied to rivers, the idea became “furnishing a subsidiary supply”: a smaller stream contributes water to a larger one.

In context

Town of Amherst, MA77:11

it's a intermittent tributary that flows into the Mill River The Mill River does not flow along the back of this property

Conservation Commission Meeting Feb 28, 2024

More examples

Several tributaries join the river upstream.
The map marks a small tributary stream.
Pollution entered the main channel through a tributary.

Forms

tributary · tributaries

Similar words

stream: Stream is a general flowing body of water; tributary identifies its relationship to a larger stream it joins.
distributary: A distributary branches away from a river; a tributary flows into one.