Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “tribunal” come from?

Tribunal comes from Old French tribunal, from Latin tribunal meaning a raised platform for magistrates, derived from tribunus, an official of a tribe, from tribus tribe, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European tréyes meaning three.

tribunal (English): An assembly including one or more judges to...

Definitions

  1. An assembly including one or more judges to...

Ancestry of “tribunal”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchtribunaltribunal; court; of or relating to a tribunal
2Latintribunala raised semicircular or square platform, on...
3LatintribusOne of the three original tribes of Rome: Ramnes,...
4Latintrēs—
5Proto-Italictrēsthree
6Proto-Indo-European*tréyes—
Every word from Proto-Indo-European *tréyes →