Tribe

Quick meaning: Tribe is a noun meaning (synecdochic) A tribal nation or people.

Meaning

(synecdochic) A tribal nation or people.

More Meanings

1. (informal, derogatory) A nation or people considered culturally primitive, as may be the case in Africa, Australia or Native America.
2. A socially cohesive group of people within a society.
3. A class or group of things.
4. (zoology) A group of apes who live and work together.
5. (taxonomy) A hierarchical rank between family and genus.
6. A group of affiliated Mardi Gras Indians.
7. (history, anthropology) An ethnic group larger than a band or clan (and which may contain clans) but smaller than a nation (and which in turn may constitute a nation with other tribes). The tribe is often the basis of ethnic identity.

Example Sentences

Near-synonyms: nation; ingroup

She found her tribe among fellow cross-stitchers.

the Twelve Tribes of Israel; Germanic tribes; Celtic tribes

The Formation of Kazakh Identity: From Tribe to Nation-state

Word Forms

• tribes
• tribing
• tribed

Synonyms for tribe

Depending on context, synonyms include tribus, nation, ingroup, kin, clan, folk.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include folk, clan, kin, kindred, tribal, ethnic.

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