tribal
//ˈtɹaɪbəl//
Forms
- Comparative
- more tribal
- Superlative
- most tribal
- Plural
- tribals
Definitions
1.Of or relating to tribes.
- ‘What has he done?’ ‘Oh, killed a few natives. That wouldn’t count so much if it was all ‘tribal’; but he’s ‘gone cheeky’ and threatens wholesale murder. My job is to grab him before he slaughters more.’
2.Based on or organized according to tribes.
3.Incorporating designs or styles typical of an indigenous people.
1.A design or image that has been influenced by indigenous peoples; especially such a tattoo.
2.A member of a tribe.
- This right had been accepted by relative tribals but misobeyed and effaced by non-tribals and foreign peasants.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4612
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Word family
Etymology
From Latin tribālis.
By surface analysis, tribe + -al, first attested in the 1630s.