Tribute - Dictionary Definition and Overview

Tribute :  (noun)
1: something given or done as an expression of esteem [syn: testimonial]
2: payment by one nation for protection by another
3: payment extorted by gangsters on threat of violence; "every store in the neighborhood had to pay him protection" [syn: protection]

Based on WordNet 2.0

Tribute : \Trib"ute\, n. [OE. tribut, L. tributum, fr. tribuere, tributum, to bestow, grant, pay, allot, assign, originally, to a tribe, from tribus tribe; cf. F. tribut. See Tribe, and cf. Attribute, Contribute.] 1. An annual or stated sum of money or other valuable thing, paid by one ruler or nation to another, either as an acknowledgment of submission, or as the price of peace and protection, or by virtue of some treaty; as, the Romans made their conquered countries pay tribute.

Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute. --C. C. Pinckney.

2. A personal contribution, as of money, praise, service, etc., made in token of services rendered, or as that which is due or deserved; as, a tribute of affection.

Implores the passing tribute of a sigh. --Gray.

3. (Mining) A certain proportion of the ore raised, or of its value, given to the miner as his recompense. --Pryce. Tomlinson.

Tribute money, money paid as a tribute or tax.

Tribute pitch. (Mining) See under Tributer. [Eng.]

Syn: See Subsidy.

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Tribute : \Trib"ute\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Tributed; p. pr. & vb. n. Tributing.] To pay as tribute. [R.] --Whitlock (1654).

Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

Tribute :  a tax imposed by a king on his subjects (2 Sam. 20:24; 1 Kings 4:6; Rom. 13:6). In Matt. 17:24-27 the word denotes the temple rate (the "didrachma," the "half-shekel," as rendered by the R.V.) which was required to be paid for the support of the temple by every Jew above twenty years of age (Ex. 30:12; 2 Kings 12:4; 2 Chr. 24:6, 9). It was not a civil but a religious tax.

In Matt. 22:17, Mark 12:14, Luke 20:22, the word may be interpreted as denoting the capitation tax which the Romans imposed on the Jewish people. It may, however, be legitimately regarded as denoting any tax whatever imposed by a foreign power on the people of Israel. The "tribute money" shown to our Lord (Matt. 22:19) was the denarius, bearing Caesar's superscription. It was the tax paid by every Jew to the Romans. (See PENNY.)



Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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