English
subtribe
From sub- + tribe.
Proto-Indo-European *upó ‘up; from below’
Proto-Italic *supo ‘under’
Latin sub ‘under, beneath, below’
English sub-
Proto-Indo-European *tréyes ‘three’
…
Latin trēs ‘three’
Latin tribus ‘one of the three original tribes of Rome:…’
Old French tribu
Middle English tribe ‘one of the twelve tribes of Israel’
English tribe
Today it means
noun A tribe making up part of a larger tribe.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “subtribe”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / subtribe