tribal

comparative more tribal · superlative most tribal

1. Of or relating to tribes.

   social order through tribal law

   1 more example

   ‘What has he done?’ ‘Oh, killed a few natives. That wouldn’t count so much if it was all ‘tribal’; but he’s ‘gone cheeky’ and threatens wholesale murder. My job is to grab him before he slaughters more.’

   1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 46

2. Based on or organized according to tribes.

   a tribal society

3. historicalraretheory of recapitulationbiologyPhylogenic.

   tribal history

4. Incorporating designs or styles typical of an indigenous people.

   tribal techno music

   1 more example

   a purse with a tribal design

plural tribals

1. A design or image that has been influenced by indigenous peoples; especially such a tattoo.
2. IndiaA member of a tribe.

   This right had been accepted by relative tribals but misobeyed and effaced by non-tribals and foreign peasants.

   1983, Human Science: Journal of the Anthropological Survey of India, page 141

   1 more example

   […] the legendary Adivasi leader Jaipal Singh Munda who came to represent the tribals not just of his native plateau, but also of all of India […]

   2018, Vaijayanta Anand, Geeta Balakrishnan, Purnima George, Community Practices in India: Lessons from the Grassroots, page 66