tribe [ME] In the early days of ancient Rome the people fell into three political divisions. This division into ‘three’ (tri- in Latin) may be the origin of tribus, from which tribe descended, along with tribunal [LME], tribune [LME], tribute [ME] from a sense ‘to assign, pay’, and retribution [LME] ‘paying back’. The first uses of tribe in English referred to the twelve ancient tribes of Israel claiming descent from the twelve sons of Jacob. From tribute comes tributary, found from the 14th century for someone paying tribute. The sense of a smaller river adding its contribution to the big one developed from this in the early 19th century.