supertribe

S1U1P3E1R1T1R1I1B3E1

noun

one of the ranks used in classifying animal life forms; a supertribe is more specific than a subfamily and more general than a tribe

OriginEnglish tribe ← Latin super- ← Proto-Italic *super →
Scrabble 14
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounsupertribe (plural supertribes)

plural supertribes

  1. biologyone of the ranks used in classifying animal life forms; a supertribe is more specific than a subfamily and more general than a tribe

    taxonomists have been inventing a confusing raft of ranks, such as phalanxes, infracohorts and supertribes

    2004 September 11, New Scientist, page 13

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*úp
  2. Proto-Indo-European*upér
  3. Proto-Italic*super
  4. Latinsuper
  5. Latinsuper-
  6. Englishsuper-
  7. Englishtribe
  8. Englishsupertribe

From super- + tribe.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

supertribe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/supertribe

MLA

“supertribe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/supertribe. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “supertribe,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/supertribe.

Source: supertribe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.