Definition of "tribe" []

• A unit of sociopolitical organization consisting of a number of families, clans, or other groups who share a common ancestry and culture and among whom leadership is typically neither formalized nor permanent. (noun)
• A political, ethnic, or ancestral division of ancient states and cultures, especially: (noun)
• Any of the three divisions of the ancient Romans, namely, the Latin, Sabine, and Etruscan. (noun)
• Any of the 12 divisions of ancient Israel. (noun)
• A phyle of ancient Greece. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Economy was a part of her nature, and besides that she meant to show them that she was perfectly independent of the whole tribe; the _tribe_ and _them_ referring to the hired girls alone, for she knew no one else in town."
• "TREABHACH, pertaitiing to a tribe, or family; or one of the fame tribe*"
• "But I was using the term tribe the way she seems to."