tribe

noun

ˈtrīb 

plural tribes

1

a

: a social group composed chiefly of numerous families, clans, or generations having a shared ancestry and language

b

: a political division of the Roman people originally representing one of the three original tribes of ancient Rome

c

: phyle

2

: a group of persons having a common character, occupation, or interest

3

: a category of taxonomic classification ranking below a subfamily

also : a natural group irrespective of taxonomic rank

the cat tribe

the rose tribe

Synonyms

• blood
• clan
• family
• folks
• house
• kin
• kindred
• kinfolk
• kinfolks
• kinsfolk
• line
• lineage
• people
• race
• stock

Examples of tribe in a Sentence

a tribe of artists with wild hair and casual manners

the wedding joined the two tribes together

Recent Examples on the Web

By 1899, Provincetown was home to a small population of New Englanders, who had displaced the Wampanoag and Nauset tribes, and to Portuguese immigrants working as whalers and fishermen. —Hannah Goldfield, The New Yorker, 22 July 2024

With the tribe facing extinction, the peppy Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick) teams up with Branch (Justin Timberlake), the one gloomy Troll, to rescue their friends from Bergen Town. —Danny Horn, EW.com, 20 July 2024

What to know: Members of one of the world’s most isolated Indigenous tribes, the Mashco Piro, were spotted in recent weeks near logging activities in the Peruvian Amazon. —Hannah Jewell, Washington Post, 17 July 2024

The judge later helped form a court majority that struck down the constitutional challenge, protecting the tribe’s business. —Noah Pransky, ProPublica, 16 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin tribus, a division of the Roman people, tribe

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing tribe

• sub-tribe

Kids Definition

tribe

noun

ˈtrīb 

1

: a social group made up of many families, clans, or generations that share the same language, customs, and beliefs

2

: a group of persons with a common character, occupation, or interest

3

: a group of related plants or animals

Medical Definition

tribe

noun

ˈtrīb 

: a category of taxonomic classification sometimes equivalent to or ranking just below a suborder but more commonly ranking below a subfamily