# tribe

> English word · Noun · IPA /tɹaɪb/ · frequency rank #5,923

## Definitions
1. An ethnic group larger than a band or clan (and which may contain clans) but smaller than a nation (and which in turn may constitute a nation with other tribes). The tribe is often the basis of ethnic identity.
2. A tribal nation or people.
3. A nation or people considered culturally primitive, as may be the case in Africa, Australia or Native America.
4. A socially cohesive group of people within a society.
5. A class or group of things.
6. A group of apes who live and work together.
7. A hierarchical rank between family and genus.
8. A group of affiliated Mardi Gras Indians.
9. The collective noun for various animals.
10. A family of animals descended from some particular female progenitor, through the female line.

## Etymology
PIE word
 *tréyes
From Middle English tribe, tribu, from Old French tribu, from Latin tribus. Doublet of tribus.

## Easily confused with
- **true** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-true)
- **trip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-trip)
- **tube** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-tube)
- **trio** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-trio)
- **trim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-trim)
- **tris** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-tris)
- **trig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-trig)
- **tried** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-tried)
- **twice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-twice)
- **tries** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-tries)
- **trick** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-trick)
- **trips** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-trips)
- **truce** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-truce)
- **trope** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-trope)
- **Trish** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-trish)
- **trove** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-trove)
- **twine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-twine)
- **Tripp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-tripp)
- **trier** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-trier)
- **trite** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tribe-vs-trite)

## Common misspellings (7)
`rtibe`, `tirbe`, `trbie`, `tribbe`, `trieb`, `trribe`, `ttribe`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/tribe