tribal

adj
/ˈtɹaɪbəl/UK

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.

  1. learned borrowing from Stammesgeschichte
  2. borrowed from tribālis

Definitions

  1. 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.’
  2. Based on or organized according to tribes.

    • a tribal society
  3. Phylogenic.

    • tribal history
  4. + 3 more definitions
    1. Incorporating designs or styles typical of an indigenous people.

      • tribal techno music
      • a purse with a tribal design
    2. A design or image that has been influenced by indigenous peoples

      A design or image that has been influenced by indigenous peoples; especially such a tattoo.

    3. 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 […]

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at tribal. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01tribal02phylogenic03phylogeny04clades05clade06ancestor07progenitor08tribe

A definitional loop anchored at tribal. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at tribal

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA