Tributary

(44), a. [Lat. tributarius, Fr. tributaire, Pr. tributari, Sp., Pg., & It. tributario.]

1. Paying tribute to another, either from compulsion, as an acknowledgment of submission, or to secure protection, or for the purpose of purchasing peace.
2. Hence, subject; subordinate; inferior. “He, to grace his tributary gods.” Milton.
3. Paid in tribute.

No flattery tunes these tributary lays. Concanen. 4. Yielding supplies of any thing; serving to form or make up a greater object of the same kind, as a part, branch, &c.; contributing; as, the Ohio has many tributary streams, and is itself tributary to the Mississippi.