BharatNotes Tributary
noun; adjectiveUsage in a UPSC answer
Effective river-basin governance requires that every tributary be treated not as a peripheral channel but as an integral artery of the watershed, since the pollution or over-abstraction of even a minor feeder stream ultimately degrades the health of the entire river system.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
tributaries (n pl), tribute (n), tributary (adj), contributory (adj, cognate), distribute (v, cognate)
Root
Latin tribūtum = tribute; tribuere = to assign, divide among tribes; tribus = tribe; -ary = noun/adj suffix
Etymology
From Latin tribūtārius ("paying tribute"), from tribūtum ("tribute"), from tribuere ("to assign, divide among tribes"), from tribus ("tribe").
Memory Hook
Think TRIBUTE: a tributary "pays its tribute" of water into the larger river, just as a subject state once paid tribute to its overlord — both contribute their share to something greater.
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
A stream that flows into a larger river rather than directly into the sea. The concept anchors the drainage basin, since a trunk river together with all its tributaries drains a definite catchment bounded by a watershed, and it is the basin rather than the administrative district that is the rational unit for water management, which is the case for river basin authorities and for treating an inter-state river as one system. Tributary patterns also disclose the structure beneath: dendritic branching develops on uniform rock as in much of the Ganga system, trellis patterns with right-angled junctions form on alternating hard and soft folded strata, radial drainage runs outward from a dome as from Amarkantak, and centripetal drainage converges into a basin. The Ganga's principal tributaries, the Yamuna, Ghaghara, Gandak, Kosi and Son, recur in questions, the Kosi being known as the Sorrow of Bihar for its shifting course.
Don’t Confuse It With
A tributary flows into a larger river, while a distributary branches away from it, typically across a delta, so the two run in opposite directions. The confluence is the point where two rivers meet. A drainage basin or catchment is the entire area drained by a river and its tributaries, and the watershed or divide is the high ground separating one basin from the next. A river system means the trunk stream together with all its tributaries taken as one unit.
Hindi Meaning
सहायक नदी (sahāyak nadī); वितरिका (vitarikā) for a distributary and जलविभाजक for a watershed.
Common Questions
- What is the difference between a tributary and a distributary?
- A tributary joins and adds water to a larger river, while a distributary branches off from it and carries water away, usually in a delta.
- What is a drainage basin?
- The whole area from which a river and its tributaries collect their water, bounded by a watershed that separates it from neighbouring basins.
Seen in UPSC Question Papers
- Prelims 2016 — Indian Rivers
Real UPSC previous-year questions whose text uses “Tributary” — proof this word earns its place on your list.
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