1. A unit of social organization consisting of a number of families, clans, or other groups who share a common ancestry, culture, and leadership. 2. A political, ethnic, or ancestral division of ancient states and cultures, especially: 3. Any of the three divisions of the ancient Romans, namely, the Latin, Sabine, and Etruscan. 4. Any of the 12 divisions of ancient Israel. 5. A phyle of ancient Greece. 6. a tribe of graduate students. 7. A large family. 8. A taxonomic category placed between a subfamily and a genus or between a suborder and a family and usually containing several genera.
