tribe

Etymology

PIE word *tréyes From Middle English tribe, tribu, from Old French tribu, from Latin tribus. Doublet of tribus.

noun

1. (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 be contained within a nation). The tribe is often the basis of ethnic identity.
   the Twelve Tribes of Israel Germanic tribes Celtic tribes
   The Formation of Kazakh Identity: From Tribe to Nation-state
2. (synecdoche) A tribal nation or people.
3. (derogatory) A nation or people in an area considered culturally primitive, such as Africa, Australia or Native America.
4. A socially cohesive group of people within a society
   The thought of spending a year in close company with twitchers chilled me to the core. Not that I have anything against them, I am terribly fond of the members of the tribe, it is just that basically, they are a bunch of obsessive freaks. 2005, Sean Dooley, The Big Twitch, Sydney: Allen and Unwin, page 26
5. (zoology) A group of apes who live and work together.
6. (taxonomy) A hierarchal rank between family and genus.
7. The collective noun for various animals.
8. (stock breeding) A family of animals descended from some particular female progenitor, through the female line.
   the Duchess tribe of shorthorns

verb

1. (transitive) To distribute into tribes or classes; to categorize.
   1696-1699, William Nicolson, English Historical Library Our fowl, fish, and quadruped are well tribed.