tribute
/ˈtɹɪbjuːt/noun, verb
tribute is spelled T-R-I-B-U-T-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 18 times per million words in written English, the 4,667th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tribute means “An acknowledgment of gratitude, respect or admiration; an accompanying gift” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tribute is tributes.
How many letters and syllables are in tribute?
| Letters | 7: T-R-I-B-U-T-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 18 times per million words; the 4,667th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is tribute?
Tribute appears 18 times per million words in written English, the 4,667th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tribute?
- /ˈtɹɪbjuːt/
Tribute has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-tribute.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of tribute
- tributes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- tributing participle, present
- tributed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tribute mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An acknowledgment of gratitude, respect or admiration; an accompanying gift.
Please accept this as a tribute of our thanks.
- 2
An homage made in a body of work to another work or creator.
Did you catch the Up in Smoke tribute in that episode of That '70s Show?
- 3
A payment made by one nation to another in submission.
The Ancient Romans made their conquered countries pay tribute.
- 4
Extortion; protection money.
- 5
A payment made by a feudal vassal to his lord.
- 6
A certain proportion of the mined ore, or of its value, given to the miner as payment.
- 7
vulgarEllipsis of cum tribute.
verb
- 1
To pay as tribute.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tribute in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | hommage, tribut |
| German | Tribut |
| Portuguese | homenagem , tributo , preito, vassalagem |
| Spanish | tributo, homenaje , parias, mita , tributar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tribute come from?
From Middle English tribut (14th c.), from Middle French tribut, from Latin tributum (“tribute”, literally “a thing contributed or paid”), past participle of tribuere (“to assign, allot”), usually derived from tribus (“tribe”, which see).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).