tributary
noun/ˈtrɪbjətri/
/ˈtrɪbjəteri/
(plural tributaries)
- a river or stream that flows into a larger river or a lake
- The Thames is fed by several small tributaries.
- a tributary stream
Extra ExamplesTopics Geographyc2- Through northern Sudan and Egypt, the Nile is joined by no tributary, flowing as it does through pure desert.
- We need to monitor the water quality of the tributaries that feed the lake.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- main
- major
- drain something
- drain into something
- feed something
- …
- river
- stream
Word Originlate Middle English (originally referring to a person or state that pays tribute to another state or ruler): from Latin tributarius, from tributum, neuter past participle (used as a noun) of tribuere ‘assign’ (originally ‘divide between tribes’), from tribus ‘tribe’. The current sense dates from the early 19th cent.
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tributary