- tribute (n.)
- mid-14c., "tax paid to a ruler or master for security or protection," from Latin tributum "tribute," literally "a thing contributed or paid," noun use of tributus, neuter past participle of tribuere "to pay, assign, grant," also "allot among the tribes or to a tribe," from tribus (see tribe). Sense of "offering, gift, token" is first recorded 1580s.