different between creek vs tributary

English

Alternative forms

• crick (dialectical US)
• crik (eye dialect)

Etymology

From Middle English cr?ke, from Old Norse kriki. Early British colonists of Australia and the Americas used the term in the usual British way, to name inlets; as settlements followed the inlets upstream and inland, the names were retained and creek was reinterpreted as a general term for a small waterway.. Compare Dutch kreek, and French crique, both from the same source.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: kr?k IPA^(key): /k?i?k/
• (US) IPA^(key): /k?ik/, (Appalachia) /k??k/
• Rhymes: -i?k, -?k
• Homophones: creak, crick

Noun

creek (plural creeks)

1. (Britain) A small inlet or bay, often saltwater, narrower and extending farther into the land than a cove; a recess in the shore of the sea, or of a river; the inner part of a port that is used as a dock for small boats.
2. (Australia, New Zealand, Canada, US) A stream of water (often freshwater) smaller than a river and larger than a brook; in Australia, also used of river-sized waterbodies.
3. Any turn or winding.

Synonyms

• beck, brook, burn, stream
• (regional US terms:) run (Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia), brook (New England), branch (Southern US), bayou (Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Southeastern Texas)

Derived terms

Descendants

• Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin: kriki
• Sranan Tongo: kriki

Translations

References

Anagrams

• ecker

English

Etymology

From Middle English tributarie (“paying tribute”), from Latin trib?t?rius, from trib?tum (“tribute”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?t??bj?t??i/

Noun

tributary (plural tributaries)

2. A natural water stream that flows into a larger river or other body of water.

   Synonym: affluent

3. A nation, state, or other entity that pays tribute.

Related terms

• distributary

Translations

Adjective

tributary (not comparable)

1. Related to the paying of tribute.
2. subordinate; inferior
3. Yielding supplies of any kind; serving to form or make up, a greater object of the same kind, as a part, branch, etc.; contributing.

   The Ohio has many tributary streams, and is itself tributary to the Mississippi.

Related terms

• tribute

Translations