Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “tribal” come from?

Tribal comes from English tribe, from Latin tribus, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European tréyes meaning three, possibly referring to a group's threefold division.

tribal (English): Of or relating to tribes; Based on or organized...

Definitions

  1. Of or relating to tribes; Based on or organized...

Ancestry of “tribal”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-ityUsed to form a noun from an adjective;...
2Middle English-ite—
3Old French-ité-ity
4Latin-itās—
5Proto-Indo-European-teh₂tsUsed to form nouns representing state of being
6Proto-Indo-European-teh₂Used to form nouns representing state of being
7Proto-Indo-European-tósCreates verbal adjectives from verb stems

Words derived from “tribal”

  • tribalism
  • intertribal
  • tribally
  • nontribal
  • tribalist
  • detribalization
  • tribalization
  • tribalistic
  • retribalization
  • intratribal
  • multitribal
  • neotribalism
  • subtribal
  • detribalisation
  • detribalize
  • tribalize
  • extratribal
  • retribalize
  • intertribally
  • tribality
  • tribalesque
  • nontribally
  • tribalizam
  • трибализам
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -tós →