tribals
- 1Plural of tribal, chiefly in Indian English.
The new policy promised land rights to the tribals displaced by the dam.
Several tribals from the region traveled to the capital to present their demands.
Note
The -s marks a noun, because the adjective tribal never takes an ending. Two quite different nouns share this plural. In Indian English, tribals are members of tribes: land rights for tribals displaced by a dam. The other is a design word for images influenced by indigenous peoples, especially tattoos. A tattoo parlor advertising tribals is selling artwork, not referring to people, and context tells the two apart.
tribals is a form of tribal
tribal, noun: A design or image influenced by indigenous peoples, especially one tattooed onto the skin. Full entry
- Forms
- tribaltribals plural
- Spelling
- tribal → tribals: add -s
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /z/.
Use it in a sentence
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