tribal

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈtraɪbəl/ UK /ˈtɹaɪbəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #5852

Meanings

1

adj
Relating to or typical of a tribe.

The museum displays ancient tribal art and weapons.
2

adj
Using designs or styles typical of an indigenous people.

He has a tribal tattoo across his shoulder.
3

noun
A member of a tribe.

The forest is home to several groups of tribals.

Thesaurus

Word family

Derived forms extratribalintertribalintratribalmultitribaltribalism tribalisttribalistic

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

tribal society
a society organized around tribal groups and relationships

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Latin tribālis. By surface analysis, tribe + -al, first attested in the 1630s. The specific adjectival sense under the defunct theory of recapitulation derives from tribal history as an overly literal learned borrowing from German Stammesgeschichte; ordinarily, Stamm would only be translated as tribe when used in its ethnographic sense.

tribālis Latin Stammesgeschichte German

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# tribal

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈtraɪbəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtɹaɪbəl/
**Frequency rank:** 5852

## Meanings
1. Relating to or typical of a tribe.
2. Using designs or styles typical of an indigenous people.
3. A member of a tribe.

## Examples
- The museum displays ancient tribal art and weapons.
- He has a tribal tattoo across his shoulder.
- The forest is home to several groups of tribals.

## Derived Forms
- extratribal
- intertribal
- intratribal
- multitribal
- tribalism
- tribalist
- tribalistic

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: tribālis
- Root: Stammesgeschichte

## Etymology
From Latin tribālis. By surface analysis, tribe + -al, first attested in the 1630s. The specific adjectival sense under the defunct theory of recapitulation derives from tribal history as an overly literal learned borrowing from German Stammesgeschichte; ordinarily, Stamm would only be translated as tribe when used in its ethnographic sense.

## AI Etymology
Tribal comes from Latin tribālis. By surface analysis, tribe + -al, first attested in the 1630s. The specific adjectival sense under the defunct theory of recapitulation derives from tribal history as an overly literal learned borrowing from German Stammesgeschichte; ordinarily, Stamm would only be translated as tribe when used in its ethnographic sense. The historical chain includes tribālis (Latin) and Stammesgeschichte (German). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as extratribal, intertribal, intratribal, and multitribal. In present use it covers relating to or typical of a tribe, using designs or styles typical of an indigenous people, and a member of a tribe.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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