tribunal

noun

tri·​bu·​nal trī-ˈbyü-nᵊl 

tri-

1

: a court or forum of justice

2

: something that decides or determines

the tribunal of public opinion

3

: tribune entry 2

Synonyms of tribunal

• court
• bench
• judiciary

Examples of tribunal in a Sentence

An international tribunal was formed to deal with war crimes.

was tried before a military tribunal and found not guilty of the charges

Recent Examples on the Web

One of the new judges, Anna Korwin-Piotrowska, published the notice of suspension for Święczkowski, the tribunal president, on the court's website. — ABC News, 3 Nov. 2026

Parliament has continued appointing judges under Poland's constitution, but several of those appointments have been blocked from taking office amid a years-long standoff between the government, the presidency and the tribunal itself. — Tyler Speicher, FOXNews.com, 2 Nov. 2026

Two decades ago, as Colombia’s army fought powerful leftist guerrillas, soldiers killed around 7,000 civilians, dressing up and planting guns on the corpses to inflate enemy body counts, a tribunal later found. — New York Times, 30 Oct. 2026

It was imposed by a labor dispute arbitration tribunal acting under a decision of the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB), following the federal government’s request that the negotiations be taken in that direction. — Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 20 Oct. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin, platform for magistrates, from tribunus tribune

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Rhymes for tribunal

• communal
• jejunal
• lagoonal
• monsoonal
• intercommunal

Kids Definition

tribunal

noun

tri·​bu·​nal trī-ˈbyün-ᵊl 

trib-ˈyün-

1

: the seat of a judge

2

: a court of justice

3

: something that decides or determines

the tribunal of public opinion

Legal Definition

tribunal

noun

tri·​bu·​nal trī-ˈbyün-ᵊl, tri- 

1

: the seat of a judge or one acting as a judge

2

: a court or forum of justice : a person or body of persons having to hear and decide disputes so as to bind the parties

Etymology

Latin, platform for magistrates, from tribunus tribune, from tribus tribe