Definition of tribe

• n. - A family, race, or series of generations, descending from the same progenitor, and kept distinct, as in the case of the twelve tribes of Israel, descended from the twelve sons of Jacob.
• n. - A number of species or genera having certain structural characteristics in common; as, a tribe of plants; a tribe of animals.
• n. - A nation of savages or uncivilized people; a body of rude people united under one leader or government; as, the tribes of the Six Nations; the Seneca tribe.
• n. - A division, class, or distinct portion of a people, from whatever cause that distinction may have originated; as, the city of Athens was divided into ten tribes.
• n. - A family of animals descended from some particular female progenitor, through the female line; as, the Duchess tribe of shorthorns.
• v. t. - To distribute into tribes or classes.