Lewis & Short

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trēs (also treis and trīs; acc. tres and tris), trĭa, num. adj. [Sanscr. tri-, trajas; Gr. τρεῖς, τρία; Goth. thrija; Germ. drei; Engl. three].

  1. I. Three: duas, tris minas auferunt, Plaut. Bacch. 4, 4, 7: tria corpora, Tris species tam dissimiles, Lucr. 5, 93 sq.: horum trium generum quodvis, Cic. Rep. 1, 26, 42: hoc loquor de tribus his generibus, id. ib. 1, 28, 44: tribus modis, uno … altero … tertio … , Cic. Div. 1, 30, 64: fundos decem et tres reliquit, id. Rosc. Am. 7, 20.
  2. II. To denote a small number: (sermo) tribus verbis, of three words, Plaut. Mil. 4, 2, 29; so, verbis, id. Trin. 4. 2, 121; cf. Ter. Phorm. 4, 3, 33; Ov. P. 4, 3, 26: ego tribus primis verbis, quid noster Paetus; at ille, etc., at the first three words, Cic. Fam. 9, 19, 1: haec omnia in tribus verbis, Quint. 9, 4, 78: chartis, Cat. 1, 5: suavia, id. 79, 4: cum tribus illa bibit, Mart. 13, 124, 2.

trĭbus, ūs (dat. and abl. plur.: tribubus, Cic. Rep. 2, 9, 16; Liv. 5, 18, 2; 23, 12, 16, etc.; but trebibos, Ephem. Epigr. 2, 208, n. 299; never tribibus; cf. Serv. ad Verg. G. 3, 376, and v., in gen., Neue, Formenl. 1, 361 sqq.), f. [tri-; root in tres (dat. tribus) and bhū; Gr. φυ- in φυλή; v. Corss. Ausspr. 1, 163], orig. a third part of the Roman people; as their numbers increased it came to mean,

  1. I. Lit., a division of the people, a tribe (the number of these tribes finally increased to thirty-five, of which thirty-one were rusticae tribus or country tribes, and four urbanae tribus or city tribes; the following are the names of the tribes, the city tribes being printed in Italics, viz.: Aemilia, Aniensis, Arniensis, Claudia, Collina, Cornelia, Crustumina, Esquilina, Fabia, Falerina, Galesia, Horatia, Lemonia, Maecia, Menenia, Oufentina, Palatina, Papiria, Pollia, Pomptina, Popilia, Pupinia, Quirina, Romilia, Sabatina, Scaptia, Sergia, Stellatina, Suburana, Terentina, Tromentina, Veientina, Velina, Veturia, Voltinia. Some of these names are the same as the names of Roman gentes, and others are derived from the names of places where these tribes at first resided), Varr. L. L. 4, 9, 17; Cic. Rep. 2, 8, 14; Liv. 1, 36, 7; 8, 37, 12; 9, 46, 2 Weissenb. ad loc.; id. Epit. 19; Col. 5, 1, 7; Val. Max. 7, 1, 2; 9, 10, 1; cf. Niebuhr, Röm. Gesch. 1, p. 426 sq.; and see the names of these tribes in Inscr. Orell. II. pp. 11-28 and 147: inventum tamen esse fortem amicum ex eādem familia Q. Verrem Romilia, of the Romilian tribe, Cic. Verr. 1, 8, 23; cf. Ser. Sulpicius, Q. F. Lemonia, Rufus, id. Phil. 9, 7, 15: L. AVRELIVS L. FIL. CAMILIA FIRMVS, etc., Inscr. Orell. 3070: Africanus censor tribu movebat eum centurionem, qui in Pauli pugna non affuerat, removed, expelled from the tribe, Cic. de Or. 2, 67, 272; so, tribu movere aliquem, id. Clu. 43, 122; Liv. 45, 15, 4; 4, 24, 7; 24, 18, 6; 45, 15, 4; Val. Max. 2, 4, 4: urbanae (tribus) in quas transferri ignominia esset, desidiae probro, Plin. 18, 3, 3, § 13: populus in tribus convocatus, Cic. Leg. 3, 19, 44: ea multitudo tribus circuit, genibus se omnium advolvens, Liv. 8, 37, 9.
    1. B. Trop., comicè: grammaticas ambire tribus, to canvass the Grammarian tribe, Hor. Ep. 1, 19, 40.
  2. II. Transf.
      1. 1. Of Macedonians: satellites illi ex tribu suā legunt, Just. 13, 3, 1 (al. turbā).
      2. 2. In gen., the commonalty, the mass, mob, poor people, Mart. 8, 15, 4; Plin. 19, 4, 19, § 54: equitem imitatae tribus, Flor. 2, 6, 25.
        Prov.: sine tribu, without rank or position: homo sine tribu, sine nomine, Flor. 3, 13, 1.