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# The BFD Word of the Day
- URL: https://goodoil.news/the-bfd-word-of-the-day-389/
- Published: 2021-02-19T17:15:00.000Z
- Updated: 2021-02-12T00:23:25.000Z
- Author: David Theobald
- Tags: General, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-17 02:14

The word for today is…

tribute (noun) – 1a : something given or contributed voluntarily as due or deserved especially : a gift or service showing respect, gratitude, or affection  
b : something (such as material evidence or a formal attestation) that indicates the worth, virtue, or effectiveness of the one in question  
2a : a payment by one ruler or nation to another in acknowledgment of submission or as the price of protection  
b(1) : an excessive tax, rental, or tariff imposed by a government, sovereign, lord, or landlord  
(2) : an exorbitant charge levied by a person or group having the power of coercion  
c : the liability to pay tribute

Source : [Merriam -Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tribute?ref=goodoil.news)

Etymology : Tribute originally took the form of things given from a weaker group to the dominant power of a region—a bit like the “protection money” the Mafia gets from small businesses after making them offers they can’t refuse, though the older form of tribute actually did buy the weaker group some protection from enemy forces. Tribute could come in the form of valuables, cattle, or even produce, and might include the loan of warriors to strengthen the ruler’s army. But when we “pay tribute” today, it’s generally in the form of praise. And when we say, for instance, that a successful school “is a tribute to” the vision of its founder, we mean that its success is itself a form of praise for the person who founded it. And a “tribute band” is a rock group intended to honour a great band of the past.

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