tributaire

Forms

tributaire (plural tributaires)^[1] Anglo-Norman also had tributer and tributarie.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin tribūtārius (“relating to tribute, tributary”), from tribūtum (“tax, tribute”).^{[3][4][5][6][7]} In Latin it was used in particular of a letter that brought the contribution due.^[8] It was borrowed before the noun itself.^[8] Wiktionary analyses it as tribut with -aire.^[1]

Cognate with Occitan tributari, Spanish tributario and Italian tributario.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace's Brut (1155) has it as a noun, both for a domain and for a person that pays a tribute; the adjective “paying tribute” follows in the Roman d'Énéas (1160).^[3][2] The GLLF and Rey date the Énéas to about 1130.^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

It entered French as a feudal term, “paying tribute to a lord, a sovereign or a state”, a sense now only historical.^[8][10] The figurative “paying homage, submissive” (1573, in Desportes's mon cœur tributaire) has also gone out of use.^[3][8] From the 18th century it meant “unable to free oneself from, dependent on” (before 1741, Jean-Baptiste Rousseau), now its main sense.^[3][8][5] Metaphors in the tragedies of Garnier (tributaires eaux, 1578) and Montchrestien prepared the geographical sense of a river flowing into another river, a lake or the sea, recorded as an adjective in the Trévoux dictionary of 1771 and as a masculine noun from 1872.^[3][8]

Timeline

• 1155 – Wace's Brut uses the noun.^[3][2]
• 1160 – The Roman d'Énéas uses the adjective “paying tribute”.^[3]
• 1573 – Desportes writes mon cœur tributaire “my submissive heart”.^[3][9]
• 1578 – Garnier's tributaires eaux applies it to waters.^[3]
• Before 1741 – Jean-Baptiste Rousseau uses it for “dependent on”.^[3][8]
• 1771 – The Trévoux dictionary records the sense “flowing into another river”.^[3][5]
• 1872 – Tributaire is used as a noun for a river's tributary.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (dated or historical) Paying tribut to a lord or a state; subject to a power.^[3][10][9]
2. (figurative, obsolete) Paying homage.^[10][8]
3. Dependent on someone or something: tributaire de.^[10][3][8]
4. (geography) Of a watercourse: flowing into another river, a lake or the sea.^[3][10][9]

Noun

1. (historical) One who pays tribute; a subject.^[10][9][1]
2. A tributary of a river; an affluent.^[9][8][1]

Related words

• tribut
• Latin tribūtārius

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/2, 258a
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
10. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert