Adjacent Words

Tribe definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TRIBE, n. [L. tribus.]
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.
2. A division, class or distinct portion of people, from whatever cause that distinction may have originated. The city of Athens was divided into ten tribes. Rome was originally divided into three tribes; afterward the people were distributed into thirty tribes, and afterwards into thirty five.
3. A number of things having certain characters or resemblances, in common; as a tribe of plants; a tribe of animals.
Linneus distributed the vegetable kingdom into three tribes, viz. monocotyledonous, dicotyledonous, and acotyledonous plants, and these he subdivided into gentes or nations.
By recent naturalists, tribe has been used for a division of animals or vegetables, intermediate between order and genus. Cuvier divides his orders into families, and his families into tribes, including under the latter one or more genera. Leach, in his arrangement of insects, makes his tribes, on the contrary, the primary subdivisions of his orders, and his families subordinate to them, and immediately including the genera.
Tribes of plants, in gardening, are such as are related to teach other by some natural affinity or resemblance; as by their duration, the annual, biennial, and perennial tribes; by their roots, as the bulbous, tuberous, and fibrous-rooted tribes; by the loss or retention of their leaves, as the deciduous and ever-green tribes; by their fruits and seeds, as the leguminous, bacciferous, coniferous, nuciferous and pomiferous tribes, etc.
4. A division; a number considered collectively.
5. A nation of savages; a body of rude people united under one leader or government; as the tribes of the six nations; the Seneca tribe in America.
6. A number of persons of any character or profession; in contempt; as the scribbling tribe.
TRIBE, v.t. To distribute into tribes or classes. [Not much used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a social division of (usually preliterate) people [syn: tribe, folk]
2: a federation (as of American Indians) [syn: tribe, federation of tribes]
3: (biology) a taxonomic category between a genus and a subfamily
4: group of people related by blood or marriage [syn: kin, kin group, kinship group, kindred, clan, tribe]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Latin tribus, a division of the Roman people, tribe Date: 13th century 1. a. a social group comprising numerous families, clans, or generations together with slaves, dependents, or adopted strangers 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>

Britannica Concise

Social group defined by traditions of common descent and having temporary or permanent political integration above the family and clan levels as well as a shared language, culture, and ideology. Tribes are usually composed of a number of smaller local communities (e.g., bands or villages) and may be aggregated into higher-order clusters, sometimes called nations. Members typically share a tribal name and a contiguous territory; they work together in such joint endeavors as trade, agriculture, house construction, warfare, and ceremonial activities. Though applied more cautiously today than during the era of colonialism, it remains the U.S. government term for Amer. Indian groups and is commonly used among the groups themselves. See also ethnic group.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a group of (esp. primitive) families or communities, linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties, and usu. having a common culture and dialect, and a recognized leader. 2 any similar natural or political division. 3 Rom.Hist. each of the political divisions of the Roman people. 4 each of the 12 divisions of the Israelites. 5 usu. derog. a set or number of persons esp. of one profession etc. or family (the whole tribe of actors). 6 Biol. a group of organisms usu. ranking between genus and the subfamily. 7 (in pl.) large numbers. Etymology: ME, orig. in pl. form tribuz, tribus f. OF or L tribus (sing. & pl.)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tribe Tribe, v. t. To distribute into tribes or classes. [R.] Our fowl, fish, and quadruped are well tribed. --Abp. Nicolson.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tribe 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(tribes) 1. Tribe is sometimes used to refer to a group of people of the same race, language, and customs, especially in a developing country. Some people disapprove of this use. ...three-hundred members of the Xhosa tribe. N-COUNT-COLL 2. You can use tribe to refer to a group of people who are all doing the same thing or who all behave in the same way. (mainly HUMOROUS, INFORMAL) ...tribes of talented young people. N-COUNT-COLL: usu N of n, adj N

Easton's Bible Dictionary

a collection of families descending from one ancestor. The "twelve tribes" of the Hebrews were the twelve collections of families which sprang from the sons of Jacob. In Matt. 24:30 the word has a wider significance. The tribes of Israel are referred to as types of the spiritual family of God (Rev. 7). (See ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF; JUDAH, KINGDOM OF.)

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

trib (in the Old Testament always for matteh, 183 times, or shebhet, 145 times, also spelled shebhet; Aramaic shebhat (Ezr 6:17)): Both words mean "staff," and perhaps "company led by chief with staff" (OHL, 641) is the origin of the meaning "tribe." In the Apocrypha and New Testament always for phule, from phuo, "beget," with dodekaphulon, "twelve tribes," in Ac 26:7. Of the two Hebrew words, shebhet appears to be considerably the older, and is used in Ps 74:2; Jer 10:16; 51:19 of the whole people of Israel, and in Nu 4:18; Jud 20:12 (Revised Version margin); 1Sa 9:21 (Revised Version margin) of subdivisions of a tribe (but the text of most of these six verses is suspicious). Further, in Isa 19:13, shebhet is used of the "tribes" (nomes?) of Egypt and phule in Mt 24:30 of "all the tribes of the earth," but otherwise shebhet, matteh and phule refer exclusively to the tribes of Israel. In 2Sa 7:7 for shibhete, "tribes," read shophete, "judges" (of the Revised Version margin).

Burton Scott Easton

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Family, race, clan, sept. 2. Nation of savages, nation of uncivilized people. 3. Class (of persons or things), order, division, distinct portion.

Moby Thesaurus

age group, animal kingdom, band, battalion, bevy, biotype, blood, body, branch, brand, breed, brigade, brood, bunch, cabal, cast, caste, character, clan, class, clique, cohort, color, company, complement, contingent, corps, coterie, covey, crew, crowd, deme, denomination, description, designation, detachment, detail, division, dynasty, ethnic group, faction, family, feather, fleet, folk, form, gang, genotype, genre, gens, genus, grain, group, grouping, groupment, house, ilk, in-group, junta, kidney, kin, kind, kindred, kingdom, label, line, lineage, lot, make, manner, mark, matriclan, mob, mold, movement, nation, nature, number, order, out-group, outfit, pack, party, patriclan, pedigree, peer group, people, persuasion, phalanx, phratry, phyle, phylum, plant kingdom, platoon, posse, race, regiment, salon, section, seed, sept, series, set, shape, sort, species, squad, stable, stamp, stem, stirps, stock, strain, string, stripe, style, subclass, subfamily, subgenus, subkingdom, suborder, subspecies, subtribe, superclass, superfamily, superorder, superspecies, team, the like of, the likes of, totem, troop, troupe, type, variety, wing