Webster's English Dictionary

Enter the word to look up:

tribe

tribe \'tri-b\ n [ME, fr. L tribus, a division of the Roman people, tribe] 
   1a: a social group comprising numerous families, clans, or generations toge 
   ther with slaves, dependents, or adopted strangers 1b: a political division 
   of the Roman people orig. representing one of the  three primitive tribes 
   of ancient Rome 1c: PHYLE  2: a group of persons having a common character, 
   occupation, or interest  3a: a category of taxonomic classification 
   sometimes equivalent to or ranki ng just below a suborder or ranking below 
   a subfamily; also : a natural group irrespective of taxonomic rank {the cat 
   ~} {rose ~} 3b: a group of closely related animals or strains within a 
   breed