tributary

Từ điển Oxford Advanced Learner 8th

▪ I. tribu·tary [tributary tributaries] BrE [ˈtrɪbjətri] NAmE [ˈtrɪbjəteri] noun (pl. tribu·taries)
a river or stream that flows into a larger river or a lake

Word Origin:
late 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.

Example Bank:
•The Thames is fed by several small tributaries.
•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.


Example Bank:
•a tributary stream/river
 
▪ II. tribu·tary adjective only before noun
•a tributary stream
Main entry: ↑tributary_derived

• Từ đồng nghĩa / Synonyms:
  conducive, contributing(a), contributive, contributory, feeder, confluent, affluent