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tribal

tribal

270 3.6
Relating to people who live in small traditional groups and share customs
  • adjective
  • /ˈtraɪbəl/
translation icon : tribal
  • The community held a festival that celebrated their tribal customs and traditions.
  • tribal leader
  • tribal elders
  • tribal courts

He was, there was some tribal leader from the West.

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Examples

  • We existed in our tribal lands as tribes.

  • When the ships appeared in the sky above my world, I looked to my tribal elders for how we would respond.

  • All the rest of the land is state, federal, or tribal land.

  • You know, what we're talking about is tribal power, right?

  • And so most tribal people view their side as near perfect.

  • Who is asking these questions, within what tribal culture, for what purpose?

    Academic text (2011)
  • It gives them a sense of group tribal identity.

  • That's what the Tribal Council wants to talk about.

  • And that night, in an ancient ceremony of fire and drums, the tribal shaman presented the boy with a ring of great significance.

  • On the continent, the formation of countries was predicated on tribal ties and geography.

    Academic text (2011)

Synonyms

ethnic
vstribal
394 3.8

Relating to a group's culture and traditions

is narrower applying only to small traditional communities rather than any group
tribalist
vstribal
7.7

About the customs or way of life of a traditional community

is about general characteristics of such communities beyond culture

Compounds

3 4.7

A person who leads a group of people in a traditional community

A society organized by groups of related families with traditional customs

1 8.5

A respected elder who leads a tribe or village

A person who leads an Arab family group or village and makes important community decisions

How Tribal

clannish
1 8.2
tribal
270 3.6
communal
41 3.9
cosmopolitan
  • Specialized
14 5.5

Surface Forms

tribal positive
tribal comparative
tribal superlative

Morphology

tribal = tribe (transparent) = tribe + al

The adjective is formed regularly from the noun 'tribe' with the suffix '-al' meaning 'relating to'.

Etymology

The word tribal comes from tribe, a word for a group of people who live together and share customs and traditions. So tribal means 'relating to a tribe', which is why we use it for the leaders, customs, and social life of such groups.