tribute

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
tribute/ˈtrɪbjuːt/

▶noun

• 1 an act, statement, or gift intended to show gratitude, respect, or admiration.

  ■ something resulting from and indicating the worth of something else: his victory was a tribute to his persistence.

• 2 historical payment made periodically by one state or ruler to another, especially as a sign of dependence.

• 3 historical a proportion of ore or its equivalent, paid to a miner for work, or to the owner or lessor of a mine.

– origin ME: from L. tributum, neut. past part. (used as n.) of tribuere ‘assign’ (orig. ‘divide between tribes’), from tribus ‘tribe’.