tribal

From Latin tribālis. By surface analysis, tribe +‎ -al, first attested in the 1630s.^[1][2][3][4] 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.

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹaɪbəl/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪbəl

tribal (comparative more tribal, superlative most tribal)

1. Of or relating to tribes.

   social order through tribal law

2. Based on or organized according to tribes.

   a tribal society

3. (historical, biology, theory of recapitulation, rare) Phylogenic.^[5]

   tribal history

tribal (plural tribals)

1. A design or image that has been influenced by indigenous peoples; especially such a tattoo.
2. (India) A member of a tribe.
   • 1983, Human Science: Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India, page 141:

     This right had been accepted by relative tribals but misobeyed and effaced by non-tribals and foreign peasants.

   • 2018, Vaijayanta Anand, Geeta Balakrishnan, Purnima George, Community Practices in India: Lessons from the Grassroots, page 66:

     […] the legendary Adivasi leader Jaipal Singh Munda who came to represent the tribals not just of his native plateau, but also of all of India […]

• tribal tattoo

• IPA^(key): (Central) [tɾiˈβal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Valencia) [tɾiˈbal]

tribal m or f (masculine and feminine plural tribals)

1. (relational) tribe; tribal (of or pertaining to tribes)
2. tribal (based on or organized according to tribes)

• tribu

• “tribal”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “tribal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “tribal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “tribal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Similar vowel sounds of bright and tribe. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

tribal

1. bright; having a clear, quick intellect; intelligent

From tribu +‎ -al, possibly influenced by English tribal.

• IPA^(key): /tʁi.bal/

tribal (feminine tribale, masculine plural tribals or tribaux, feminine plural tribales)

1. tribal

• tribalisme

• “tribal”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• IPA^(key): /tɾiˈbal/ [t̪ɾiˈβ̞ɑɫ]
• Rhymes: -al
• Hyphenation: tri‧bal

tribal m or f (plural tribais)

1. tribal (of or pertaining to tribes)
2. tribal (based on or organized according to tribes)

• tribo

• “tribal”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

Borrowed from French tribal or from tribo (“tribe”) +‎ -al (“of or relating to”).^[1]

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: tri‧bal

tribal m or f (plural tribais)

1. tribal

Borrowed from French tribal. Equivalent to trib +‎ -al.

• IPA^(key): /triˈbal/

tribal m or n (feminine singular tribală, masculine plural tribali, feminine and neuter plural tribale)

1. tribal

• “tribal”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025

• tribual

• IPA^(key): /tɾiˈbal/ [t̪ɾiˈβ̞al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: tri‧bal

tribal m or f (masculine and feminine plural tribales)

1. tribal (of or relating to tribes)
2. tribal (based on or organized according to tribes)

• “tribal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024