tribe
Part of speech: noun
verb
Morphological type: simple
Topics: anthropology
biology
history
human-sciences
natural-sciences
sciences
taxonomy
zoology
Etymology: PIE word
 *tréyes
From Middle English tribe, tribu, from Old French tribu, from Latin tribus. Doublet of tribus.
Inflected forms:
form: tribes
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: tribes
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: tribing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: tribed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: tribed
pos: verb
tags: past
Senses:
gloss: An ethnic group larger than a band or clan (and which may contain clans) but smaller than a nation (and which in turn may constitute a nation with other tribes). The tribe is often the basis of ethnic identity.
pos: noun
examples: the Twelve Tribes of Israel; Germanic tribes; Celtic tribes
The Formation of Kazakh Identity: From Tribe to Nation-state
If two persons bore the same name, […] ambiguity was avoided by […] indicating their place of origin, the name of the tribe or deme being added for persons of the same town […], and the name of the country or town for foreigners […].
There have been other encounters with uncontacted tribes in recent years.
In February, a young man from an isolated Indigenous tribe in Brazil made brief contact with the outside world before returning to the Amazon rainforest.
gloss: A tribal nation or people.
pos: noun
examples: This leaves for consideration of this group of small tribes, or subtribes, so far as mapped by the writer quoted, the Teule, Cazcan, and Tecuexe.
gloss: A nation or people considered culturally primitive, as may be the case in Africa, Australia or Native America.
pos: noun
tags: derogatory
informal
gloss: A socially cohesive group of people within a society.
pos: noun
examples: Near-synonyms: nation; ingroup
She found her tribe among fellow cross-stitchers.
The thought of spending a year in close company with twitchers chilled me to the core. Not that I have anything against them, I am terribly fond of the members of the tribe, it is just that basically, they are a bunch of obsessive freaks.
gloss: A class or group of things.
pos: noun
examples: In 1968, estimates of the number of active reprint publishers ranged from about 20 to 100 publishers. The fact that almost 300 U.S. reprint publishers have been identified is evidence that the reprint tribe continues to increase.
gloss: A group of apes who live and work together.
pos: noun
gloss: A hierarchical rank between family and genus.
pos: noun
examples: The tempo of evolution in South American hamsters was very rapid – in the course of the Pliocene and Anthropocene 40 genera were formed here, at which time a series of them attained the level of tribe and subtribe (Oxymycteri, Phyllotiini, Ichthyomyini).
gloss: A group of affiliated Mardi Gras Indians.
pos: noun
gloss: The collective noun for various animals.
pos: noun
gloss: A family of animals descended from some particular female progenitor, through the female line.
pos: noun
examples: the Duchess tribe of shorthorns
gloss: To distribute into tribes or classes; to categorize.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: 1696-1699, William Nicolson, English Historical Library
Our fowl, fish, and quadruped are well tribed.
Synonyms: tribus
Derived words: criminal tribe
Delaware Tribe of Indians
Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma
Grey Tribe
hilltribe
intertribe
member of the tribe
subtribe
supertribe
tribal
tribalism
tribalist
tribalistic
tribality
tribally
tribehood
tribeless
tribelet
tribelike
tribemate
tribeship
tribesman
tribesmember
tribespeople
tribesperson
tribeswoman
undertribe
your vibe attracts your tribe
Translations: