any aggregate of people united by ties of descent from a common ancestor, community of customs and traditions, adherence to the same leaders, etc.
2.
a local division of an aboriginal people.
3.
a division of some other people.
4.
a class or type of animals, plants, articles, or the like.
5.
Animal Husbandry. a group of animals, esp. cattle, descended through the female line from a common female ancestor.
6.
Biology.
a.
a category in the classification of organisms usually between a subfamily and a genus or sometimes between a suborder and a family.
b.
any group of plants or animals.
7.
a company, group, or number of persons.
8.
a class or set of persons, esp. one with strong common traits or interests.
9.
a large family.
10.
Roman History.
a.
any one of three divisions of the people representing the Latin, Sabine, and Etruscan settlements.
b.
any of the later political divisions of the people.
11.
Greek History. a phyle.
[Origin: 1200–50; ME < L tribus tribe, orig., each of the three divisions of the Roman people; often taken as deriv. of trésthree, though formation unclear]
A unit of sociopolitical organization consisting of a number of families, clans, or other groups who share a common ancestry and culture and among whom leadership is typically neither formalized nor permanent.
A political, ethnic, or ancestral division of ancient states and cultures, especially:
Any of the three divisions of the ancient Romans, namely, the Latin, Sabine, and Etruscan.
Any of the 12 divisions of ancient Israel.
A phyle of ancient Greece.
A group of people sharing an occupation, interest, or habit: a tribe of graduate students.
Informal A large family.
Biology A taxonomic category placed between a subfamily and a genus or between a suborder and a family and usually containing several genera.
[Middle English, from Old French tribu, from Latin tribus, division of the Roman people, perhaps of Etruscan origin or possibly from tri-, three; see trei- in Indo-European roots.]
c.1250, "one of the twelve divisions of the ancient Hebrews," from O.Fr. tribu, from L. tribus "one of the three political/ethnic divisions of the original Roman state" (Tites, Ramnes, and Luceres, corresponding, perhaps, to the Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans), later, one of the 30 political divisions instituted by Servius Tullius (increased to 35 in 241 B.C.E.), perhaps from tri- "three" + *bhu-, root of the verb be. Others connect the word with the root of Welsh tref "town, inhabited place." In the Biblical sense, which was the original one in Eng., the L. word translates Gk. phyle "race or tribe of men, body of men united by ties of blood and descent, a clan" (see physic). Extension to any ethnic group or race of people is first recorded 1596. Tribal "characterized by strong group loyalty" is recorded from 1951.
Tribe\, n. [L. tribus, originally, a third part of the Roman people, afterwards, a division of the people, a tribe; of uncertain origin: cf. F. tribu.]1. A family, race, or series of generations, descending from the same progenitor, and kept distinct, as in the case of the twelve tribes of Israel, descended from the twelve sons of Jacob. "The Lion of the tribe of Juda." --Rev. v. 5. A wealthy Hebrew of my tribe. --Shak. 2. (Bot.) A number of species or genera having certain structural characteristics in common; as, a tribe of plants; a tribe of animals. Note: By many recent naturalists, tribe has been used for a group of animals or plants intermediate between order and genus. 3. A nation of savages or uncivilized people; a body of rude people united under one leader or government; as, the tribes of the Six Nations; the Seneca tribe. 4. A division, class, or distinct portion of a people, from whatever cause that distinction may have originated; as, the city of Athens was divided into ten tribes. 5. (Stock Breeding) A family of animals descended from some particular female progenitor, through the female line; as, the Duchess tribe of shorthorns.
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