tribe

English

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old French tribu, from Latin tribus.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /tɹaɪb/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪb

Noun

tribe (plural tribes)

  1. A socially, ethnically, or politically cohesive group of people.
  2. (anthropology) A society larger than a band but smaller than a state.
    1. (zoology) A group of apes who live and work together.
  3. The collective noun for various animals.
  4. (taxonomy) A hierarchal rank between family and genus.
  5. (stock breeding) A family of animals descended from some particular female progenitor, through the female line.
    the Duchess tribe of shorthorns

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

tribe (third-person singular simple present tribes, present participle tribing, simple past and past participle tribed)

  1. (transitive) To distribute into tribes or classes; to categorize.
    • Archbishop Nicolson
      Our fowl, fish, and quadruped are well tribed.

See also

  • ethnic
  • Appendix:English collective nouns

Anagrams

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