tribe

n. social group comprising people united by a common denominator (usually ancestry, tradition, leadership, etc.), clan, people; group

A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states, though some modern theorists hold that contemporary tribes can only be understood in terms of their relationship to states.The term is often loosely used to refer to any non-Western or indigenous society. Many anthropologists use the term to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups (see clan and lineage). In common modern understanding the word tribe means a social division within a traditional society consisting of a group of interlinked families or communities sharing a common culture and dialect. In the contemporary western mind the modern tribe is typically associated with a seat of traditional authority (tribal leader) with whom the representatives of external powers interact.
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(v. t.)
To distribute into tribes or classes.
  

(n.)
A number of species or genera having certain structural characteristics in common; as, a tribe of plants; a tribe of animals.
  

(n.)
A nation of savages or uncivilized people; a body of rude people united under one leader or government; as, the tribes of the Six Nations; the Seneca tribe.
  

(n.)
A family, race, or series of generations, descending from the same progenitor, and kept distinct, as in the case of the twelve tribes of Israel, descended from the twelve sons of Jacob.
  

(n.)
A family of animals descended from some particular female progenitor, through the female line; as, the Duchess tribe of shorthorns.
  

(n.)
A division, class, or distinct portion of a people, from whatever cause that distinction may have originated; as, the city of Athens was divided into ten tribes.
  

twig; scepter; tribe
  

a collection of families descending from one ancestor. The "twelve tribes" of the Hebrews were the twelve collections of families which sprang from the sons of Jacob. In Matt. 24:30 the word has a wider significance. The tribes of Israel are referred to as types of the spiritual family of God (Rev. 7). (See ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF ¯T0001909; JUDAH, KINGDOM OF.)