Category:Tribute

Trib"ute, n. Etym: [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)

Defn: 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.

Tribute Trib"ute, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Tributed; p. pr. & vb. n. Tributing.]

Defn: to pay as tribute. [r.] Whitlock (1654).

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---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Tribute - A tax imposed by a king on his subjects (2 Samuel 20:24; 1 Kings 4:6; Romans 13:6). In Matthew 17:24 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 (Exodus 30:12; 2 Kings 12:4; 2 Chronicles 24:6, 2 Chronicles 24:9). It was not a civil but a religious tax. In Matthew 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 (Matthew 22:19) was the denarius, bearing Caesar's superscription. It was the tax paid by every Jew to the Romans. (See PENNY.)