tribe English · revision 7676

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1250|origins=la tribus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /tɹaɪb/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English tribu, later tribe, [[bor|fro|tribu]] or directly Latin [[m|la|tribus|t=one of the three divisions of the Roman people]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) a word of unknown origin,^(Etymonline) generally held to contain tri-, three (see [[tri-]]), and to represent a tripartite division;^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998)^(Cresswell 2021) Barnhart takes the second element from the root of [[be]].^(Barnhart 1988) It is cognate with Umbrian trifu.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ One of the twelve divisions of the ancient Hebrews: about 1250, in ''Genesis and Exodus''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Twelve Tribes of Israel are the oldest sense in English and almost the only one in Middle English; the Latin word was a specialized Church sense translating Greek phylē, a race or clan.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) The Roman tribes, perhaps the Latins, Sabines and Etruscans, are from 1533 in English,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and the Greek phylai from 1697.^(OED 1989) Any ethnic group, especially one under a chief, is first recorded in Shakespeare's ''Merchant of Venice'' (1596);^(Barnhart 1988) the Century Dictionary defined it as a division of a barbarous people under a recognized chief, but it was used colloquially of any group of a kind.^(Etymonline) In biology, a group in classification is 17th-century.^(Hoad 1986) ''Tribal'' is from 1632 and ''tribesman'' from 1798.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1250 – a tribe of Israel.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1380 – the form tribe.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1533 – a Roman tribe.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1596 – an ethnic group.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1632 – tribal.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A social group of [[family|alt=families]] or [[clan|alt=clans]] sharing a common ancestry, culture and leadership.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A division of an ancient people, such as one of the three divisions of the Romans or the twelve tribes of [[Israel]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' Any group of people of a kind.^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(biology)'' A group in the classification of animals or plants.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[subtribe]]

+ * [[tribesman]]

+ * [[tribespeople]]

+ * [[tribeswoman]]

+ * [[undertribe]]

+ * [[tribal]]

+ * [[tribalism]]

+ * [[tribelet]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tribune]]

+ * [[tribunal]]

+ * [[tribute]]

+ * [[attribute]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}