Forms: α. 3 (pl.) tribuz, 4–6 tribu, (pl. -us), 5 trybu-s. β. 4–6 trybe, (7 Sc. tryb), 4– tribe. [In earliest form, ME. tribu, a. OF. tribu, Sp., Pg. tribu, It. tribù, tribo, a. L. tribus (u-stem); but as the OF. has not been found in the sing. before 14th c. the ME. tribuz of 1250 may directly represent L. tribūs pl. The later tribe may have been f. L. tribus on the usual pattern of derivatives from L. sbs. in -us.
L. tribus is usually explained from tri- three and the verbal root bhu, bu, fu to be. It is thought by some to be cognate with Welsh tref town or inhabited place.
The earliest known application of tribus was to the three divisions of the early people of Rome (attributed by some to the separate Latin, Sabine, and Etruscan elements); thence it was transferred to render the Greek φῦλή, and so to the Greek application of the latter to the tribes of Israel. This, from its biblical use, was the earliest use in English, the original Roman use not appearing till the 16th c.]
1. A group of persons forming a community and claiming descent from a common ancestor; spec. each of the twelve divisions of the people of Israel, claiming descent from the twelve sons of Jacob.
Ten Tribes, the tribes of Israel which revolted from the House of David, leaving only Judah and Benjamin to the kingdom of Judah. Their history after their deportation by Shalmaneser is lost, and they are often referred to as the Lost Tribes, whose identification in remote regions has been a matter of frequent speculation.
α. c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 3813. Ðoȝ he wenen ðat god sal taken Or ðo xii. tribuz summe mo.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., II. vi. (Rolls), 173. In her tribu or kinred … as in the hous of Miche… The Tribu of Dan.
1481. Caxton, Godeffroy, clxxi. 253. Whan the .x lygnages or trybus departed fro the heyer of Salamon And helde them to Ieroboam.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 24 b. Shall syt in trones … & iudge the xii tribus of Israel.
1531. Elyot, Gov., I. ii. Wherfore ix partes of them which they called Tribus forsoke hym, and elected Hieroboaz … to be theyr kynge.
β. c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 365. Þe trybe or kynrede of leuy.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 279. Of whom … The tribes [v.r. tribus] tuelve of Irahel Engendred were.
1480. Caxton, Chron. Eng., III. (1520), 20 b/2. The dukes were euer of the trybe of Iuda.
1535. Coverdale, Ps. lxxvii. 67. He refused the tabernacle of Ioseph, and chose not the trybe of Ephraim.
1671. Milton, Samson, 1540. An Ebrew, as I guess, and of our Tribe.
1715–20. Pope, Iliad, II. 431. In tribes and nations to divide thy train.
1819. Scott, Ivanhoe, xxxvi. Where dwelt a Jewish Rabbi of his tribe.
1866. Smith’s Smaller Dict. Bible (1907), 487/1. Samaria retained its dignity as the capital of the ten tribes…. In B. C. 721, Samaria was taken,… and the kingdom of the ten tribes was put an end to. Ibid., 487/2. Since the deportation of the ten tribes by Shalmaneser.
1910. Encycl. Brit., I. 315/1. A circumstance which led Bernier to speculate on the Kashmiris representing the lost tribes of Israel.
b. A particular race of recognized ancestry; a family.
c. 1400. Maundev. (1839), viii. 67. With his wyf Eue … he gatt Seth; of whiche tribe, þat is to seye, kynrede, Ihesu Crist was born.
1617. Sir R. Winwood, Lett., 29 July, in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. I. 102. The howse of Austria for many yeares together interchangebly hath maried in their owne trybe.
1623. Cockeram, Tribe, a kindred.
1667. Milton, P. L., XII. 23. And dwell Long time in peace by Families and Tribes Under paternal rule.
1719. Watts, Hymn, ‘Jesus shall reign,’ vii. In Him the tribes of Adam boast More blessings than their father lost.
1838. Lytton, Alice, I. vi. To what tribe of Camerons do you belong?
2. Roman Hist. One of the traditional three political divisions or patrician orders of ancient Rome in early times (see quot. 1842); later, one of the 30 political divisions of the Roman people instituted by Servius Tullius, and in B.C. 241 increased to 35.
1533. Bellenden, Livy, I. xvii. (S.T.S.), I. 96. Þe toun of rome was dividit … in sindri partis, and euery ane of þir partis war callit tribis, be thirllage of tribute þat þai aucht to pay to þe king … Þir tribus pertenit na thing to þe distribucioun and nowmer of centuries.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 412. Themperor … abrogateth all the tribes, and restoreth the same state of the common weale.
1600. Holland, Livy, I. xliii. 31 b. Having divided the citie into foure Wards, according to the quarters and hils; those parts which were inhabited, he [Servius Tullius] called Tribes, of the word Tribute (as I suppose).
1611. B. Jonson, Catiline, II. i. I ha’ been writing all this night … unto all the tribes And centuries for their voices, to help Catiline In his election.
1842. Smith’s Dict. Grk. & Rom. Antiq., 994/1. The three ancient Romulian tribes, the Ramnes, Tities, and Luceres,… to which the patricians alone belonged, must be distinguished from the thirty plebeian tribes of Servius Tullius.
1902. W. M. Ramsay, in Expositor, Jan., 25. Citizenship necessarily implied membership of one of the tribes of which the city was composed.
b. Grecian Hist. Rendering the Greek φῦλή.
1697. Potter, Antiq. Greece, I. ix. (1837), 57. Cecrops … divided them [the Athenians] into four φυλαί, or tribes; each tribe he subdivided into three parts.
1842. Smith’s Dict. Grk. & Rom. Antiq., 990/2. In the earliest times of Greek history mention is made of people being divided into tribes and clans. Ibid., 991/2. Of the Dorian race there were originally three tribes. Ibid., 993/1. [At Athens] the Tribes or Phylae were divided … each into three φρατρίαι (a term equivalent to fraternities). Ibid., 993/2. Solon … abolished the old tribes, and created ten new ones, according to a geographical division of Attica.
c. Irish Hist. Tribes of Galway: the families or communities of persons having the same surname.
1834. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7), X. 306/1. After … 1270, it [Galway] became the residence of a number of enterprising settlers…. Of these settlers, the principal families, fourteen in number, are still known by the name of the Tribes of Galway…. These families became so closely connected by intermarriages, that dispensations are frequently requisite for the canonical legality of marriages among them at present.
1898. Westm. Gaz., 10 Oct., 2/1. A day at least must be given to Galway—the ‘City of the Tribes.’
d. A division of some other nation or people.
1693. Tate, Juvenal, xv. 194. [Teach] stragling Mountainers, for publick Good, To Rank in Tribes, and quit the savage Wood.
1784. Cowper, Task, V. 222. When man was multiplied and spread abroad In tribes and clans.
1788. Gibbon, Decl. & F., xlii. (1869), II. 554. The nation was divided into two powerful and hostile tribes.
† e. A division of territory allotted to a family or company. Obs. rare.
1643. Baker, Chron., Jas. I., 158. Now they began to divide the Country [Bermudas] into Tribes and the Tribes into Shares.
3. A race of people; now applied esp. to a primary aggregate of people in a primitive or barbarous condition, under a headman or chief.
1596. Shaks., Merch. V., I. iii. 111. For suffrance is the badge of all our Tribe. Ibid. (1604), Oth., III. iii. 175. Good Heauen, the Soules of all my Tribe defend From Iealousie. Ibid., V. ii. 349. Of one, whose hand (Like the base Indean) threw a Pearle away Richer then all his Tribe.
1745. ? Randall, Hymn, ‘Behold, the mountain of the Lord,’ iv. Him shall the tribes of earth obey, Him all the hosts of heaven.
1823. J. Marshall, Const. Opin. (1839), 273. Territory … occupied by numerous and warlike tribes of Indians.
1835. Thirlwall, Greece, I. iv. 113. The Ionians were a Hellenic tribe, who took forcible possession of Attica and a part of Peloponnesus.
1836. W. Irving, Astoria, I. xiii. 214. Engaged in trading expeditions … among the tribes of the Missouri.
1875. Maine, Hist. Inst., iii. 65. The tribes themselves, and all subdivisions of them, are conceived by the men who compose them as descended from a single male ancestor. Ibid., 69. In some cases the Tribe can hardly be otherwise described than as the group of men subject to some one chieftain.
4. A class of persons; a fraternity, set, lot. Now often contemptuous.
c. 1600. Shaks., Sonn., cvii. Ile liue in this poore rime, While he insults ore dull and speachlesse tribes.
a. 1684. Earl Roscom., Prol. to Dk. York at Edin., 2. Folly and vice are easy to describe, The common subjects of our scribbling tribe.
1712. Addison, Spect., No. 529, ¶ 6. There is another Tribe of Persons who are Retainers to the Learned World…. I mean the Players or Actors of both Sexes.
1719. Swift, To Yng. Clergym., Wks. 1755, II. II. 4. Professors … in most arts and sciences are generally the worst qualified to explain their meanings to those, who are not of their tribe.
1796. Burke, Reg. Peace, ii. Wks. VIII. 218. The tribe of vulgar politicians are the lowest of our species.
1843. Ruskin, Arrows of Chace (1880), I. 18. Dr. Waagen is a most favourable specimen of the tribe of critics.
1850. J. H. Newman, Diffic. Anglic., I. xii. (1891), I. 388. Perish sooner a whole tribe of Cranmers, Ridleys, Latimers, and Jewels!
b. Tribe of Ben, a name applied to themselves by literary associates and disciples of Ben Jonson in his later life. (‘Sealed’ appears to refer to Rev. vii. 3–8.)
a. 1637. B. Jonson, Underwoods, lxv. (title), An epistle, answering to one that asked to be sealed of the Tribe of Ben. Ibid., 78. Now stand, and then, Sir, you are Sealed of the Tribe of Ben.
1911. Sir A. W. Ward, in Encycl. Brit., XV. 505/1. At the festive meetings where he ruled the roast among the younger authors whose pride it was to be ‘sealed of the tribe of Ben.’
5. a. Nat. Hist. A group in the classification of plants, animals, etc., usually forming a subdivision of an order, and containing a number of genera; sometimes used as superior and sometimes as inferior to a family; also, loosely, any group or series of animals.
1640. Parkinson (title), Theatrum Botanicum: the Theater of Plants … Distributed into sundry Classes or Tribes, for the more easie knowledge of the many Herbes [etc.].
1667. Milton, P. L., XI. 279. O flours … Who now shall reare ye to the Sun, or ranke Your Tribes?
1672. Grew, Idea Philos. Hist. Plants, § 2. We commonly say, Centaurium Majus and Minus, Chelidonium Majus and Minus,… which yet are distinct Species, and of very different Tribes.
1766. Compl. Farmer, s.v. Vegetable, Vegetables, according to the analyses made of them by chemistry, are distinguishable into two grand tribes, the acid and the alkaline.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), III. 256. This tribe of the cat kind with spotted skins and a long tail.
1832. Ht. Martineau, Life in Wilds, v. A tribe of birds whose habit is to unite in flocks.
1880. Gray, Struct. Bot., ix. § 1 (ed. 6), 326. Tribe has been for a generation or two … established in both kingdoms, as a grade inferior to order and superior to genus.
b. A class, group, kind, or sort of things.
1731. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. I. 269. The slimy tribe of Snails and Worms.
1744. Berkeley, Siris, § 87. The whole tribe of chronical diseases.
1776. G. Campbell, Philos. Rhet., I. v. (1801), I. 114. Under it I include these three tribes: experience, analogy and testimony.
1822–34. Good’s Study Med. (ed. 4), I. 446. The same tribe of medicines will generally be found useful in the third variety.
1844. Stephens, Bk. Farm, II. 678. It is … a member of the harrow tribe of implements.
6. A number or company of persons or animals; a ‘troop’; in pl., large numbers, ‘flocks.’
1711. Pope, Temp. Fame, 356. Then came the smallest tribe I yet had seen, Plain was their dress, and modest was their mien.
1820. Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Reg., II. 209. The same tribe of whales were seen in the latitude of 78°.
1833. Ht. Martineau, Brooke Farm, i. There were tribes of children in most of the cottages.
1909. Blackw. Mag., Feb., 160/2. I could fancy her … writing lengthy epistles to a tribe of nieces.
7. attrib. and Comb., as tribe-book, -chief, -chieftainship, -guest, -land, -league, -man, -mark, -name, -territory; tribe-invited, -like adjs.
1893. P. White, Hist. Clare, 12. He must have used … the *tribe-books then in existence.
1864. Bryce, Holy Rom. Emp., xii. (1889), 189. The first barbarian kings had been *tribe chiefs. Ibid., Supp. Ch. 424. The German kingdom … was then passing from primitive *tribe-chieftainship into a feudal monarchy.
1746. P. Francis, trans. Horace, Ep., I. xiii. 17. A *Tribe-invited Guest Carries his Cap and Slippers to a Feast.
1872. E. W. Robertson, Hist. Ess., Rome, 248. The *tribe-land, in early times, was probably divided into local districts corresponding with the Centuries of the tribe.
1899. Baring-Gould, Bk. West, II. 102. The old tribeland or principality of Gallewick was reduced in the Middle Ages to a Manor.
1864. Bryce, Holy Rom. Emp., viii. (1889), 116. The five or six great tribes or *tribe-leagues which composed the German nation.
1859. R. F. Burton, Centr. Afr., in Jrnl. Geog. Soc., XXIX. 90. If he suspect that it belongs to a fellow *tribeman.
1884. W. Wright, Empire Hittites, 129. The scratchy *tribe-marks of the Bedawin.
1886. Conder, Syrian Stone-Lore, ix. (1896), 323, note. The *tribe-names of Arabia may be best explained by the early linguistic condition in which the abstract and the comparative were unknown.
1876. trans. Keil & Delitzsch’s Ezekiel, II. 384. Every *tribe-territory shall stretch from the Jordan to the Mediterranean.
b. Combinations with tribe’s, as TRIBESMAN. q.v.; tribesfolk, tribespeople, tribeswoman.
1888. Doughty, Arabia Deserta, I. viii. 222. There is no Beduwy so impious that will chide and bite at such, his own *tribesfolk.
1888. in Jrnl. Anthrop. Inst., Aug. (1889), 90. He sent me a list of a number of the *tribespeople.
1853. Hickie, trans. Aristoph. (1872), II. 404. I come with water to rescue my fellow *tribes-women being on fire.
1899. W. Canton, in Expositor, Feb., 130. There were tribeswomen who were hospitable enough to welcome the young mother.
