the.com/tributary
a river paying taxes to a bigger river, in water
means A stream or river that flows into and feeds a larger river or lake, rather than reaching the sea on its own.
from From Latin tributarius, 'paying tribute,' which came from tributum, 'a tax paid,' rooted in tribuere, 'to allot or assign' — originally to divide among the tribus, the tribes of early Rome. So the word literally cast smaller rivers as subjects handing their waters up to a greater one, the way conquered peoples handed up their dues.
- name origin
- From Latin for paying tribute to a lord
- longest one
- Missouri River is technically a Mississippi tributary
- reverse case
- Distributaries split off deltas instead of joining
- scale range
- Spans tiny creeks to massive named rivers
- watershed math
- Countless tributaries feed every major river basin
rio negro — largest tributary of the amazon river by discharge volume, flows 2,253 km through south america
missouri river — longest tributary of the mississippi river at 3,710 km, flows through the central united states
thames river — major tributary of the thames estuary in london, england, flows 346 km through southeastern england