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

Lipski also pointed to Indigenous American lore from the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes that says stars form in the earth, then come up through the branches of cottonwood trees. —John Wenzel, The Denver Post, 12 Feb. 2025

Parvati and Ethan both competed on Survivor: Winners at War, and had plenty of time to bond on the Edge of Extinction after both being voted out of the tribe. —Dalton Ross, EW.com, 11 Feb. 2025

After discovering that his birth mother was Chickasaw, Drexler went to Oklahoma and enrolled as member of the tribe. —Jonathan Zimmerman, New York Daily News, 9 Feb. 2025

Some historians think Rome may have even supplied Danish tribes with weapons. —Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Feb. 2025

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