noun / adjective
tributary
A person or state required to pay tribute to a ruling power.
The kingdom became a tributary of the empire.
Etymology
The Latin adjective concerns payment owed to a superior power. As a noun, tributary names the person or state bound by that obligation.
More examples
- The ruler demanded payments from tributary states.
- Envoys arrived from the emperor’s tributaries.
- The treaty established the country’s tributary status.
Forms
tributary · tributaries
Similar words
- vassal
- A vassal owes allegiance and service to a superior; a tributary specifically owes tribute payments.
- dependency
- A dependency is under another power’s control; tributary emphasizes required tribute rather than a particular governing arrangement.