tribal
adjective
- associated with a tribe
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈtɹaɪbəl/
adj
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.
- Of or relating to tribes.
“social order through tribal law”
“‘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.’”
- Based on or organized according to tribes.
“a tribal society”
- Phylogenic.
“tribal history”
- Incorporating designs or styles typical of an indigenous people.
“tribal techno music”
“a purse with a tribal design”
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.
- A design or image that has been influenced by indigenous peoples; especially such a tattoo.
- A member of a tribe.
“This right had been accepted by relative tribals but misobeyed and effaced by non-tribals and foreign peasants.”
“[…] 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 […]”