n. 1. A gift, payment, declaration, or other acknowledgment of gratitude, respect, or admiration: put up a plaque as a tribute to his generosity. 2. Evidence attesting to some praiseworthy quality or characteristic: Winning the scholarship was a tribute to her hard work. 3. a. A payment in money or other valuables made by one ruler or nation to another in acknowledgment of submission or as the price of protection or security. b. A tax imposed for such payment. 4. Any payment exacted for protection. 5. a. A payment or tax given by a feudal vassal to an overlord. b. The obligation to make such a payment. [Middle English tribut, from Old French, from Latin tribūtum, from neuter past participle of tribuere, to pay, distribute, from tribus, tribe; see TRIBE.] |
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