German Conversation · Level 23
90 words
German word
Tribut
Pronunciation
IPA/tʁiˈbuːt/
Meaning
- masculine nountribute
Example
Die Provinz musste hohen Tribut leisten.
The province had to pay a high tribute.
More examples
Sein Roman ist ein Tribut an die Literatur der 1920er Jahre.
His novel pays tribute to the literature of the 1920s.
Core concept
A powerful ruler receives a costly offering that publicly acknowledges superior status.
Common phrases
Tribut zollen
pay homage
Tribut zahlen
pay tribute
dem Herrscher Tribut zahlen
pay tribute to the ruler
Similar words
Steuer: A legally required payment collected by the state or local government.
Abgabe: A regulated payment made for a public service or administrative process.
Beitrag: A member's share of the cost of a common project or purpose.
Spende: A freely chosen gift given to a charitable organization or person.
Definition in German
Tribut bezeichnet eine Leistung oder Gabe, die jemandem aus Ehrfurcht, Anerkennung oder als Zeichen der Unterordnung dargebracht wird.
Word origin
Tribut is a learned borrowing from Latin tributum, meaning a contribution or tax, derived from tribuere, meaning to assign or distribute.
Usage tips
- The fixed phrase jemandem Tribut zollen takes a dative object, so the recipient appears as jemandem rather than jemanden.
Other meanings
- homagenoun
Opposites
- Unabhängigkeitindependencenoun
- Weigerungrefusalnoun
Related words
- Tributzahlungpayment of tributenoun
- Tributpflichtobligation to pay tributenoun
- tributpflichtigsubject to tributeadjective