tribunal

American  

[trahy-byoon-l, trih-] / traɪˈbjun l, trɪ- /

noun

• tribunals
  plural

1. a court of justice.

2. a place or seat of judgment.

3. Also called tribune. a raised platform for the seats of magistrates, as in an ancient Roman basilica.

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tribunal British  

/ traɪˈbjuːnəl, trɪ- /

noun

1. a court of justice or any place where justice is administered

2. (in Britain) a special court, convened by the government to inquire into a specific matter

3. a raised platform containing the seat of a judge or magistrate, originally that in a Roman basilica

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tribunals
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of tribunal

1520–30; < Latin tribūnal, tribūnāle judgment seat, equivalent to tribūn ( us ) tribune ¹ + -āl ( e ) -al ²

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Explanation

A tribunal is like a court. If you've done something wrong and you get caught it's likely you'll be brought before a tribunal, although not all tribunals are there to determine guilt. Say, for example, you'd like to join a secret society. That society might convene a tribunal to determine whether you're worthy of joining. One way to remember tribunal is to focus on the tri at the beginning of the word. A tribunal is there to "try" a case. A tribunal is a group of people who oversee a trial. Your mom and dad could be a tribunal. You could also think of it as the group who oversees their tribe, which is, in fact, where the word comes from.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tribunal tribunals

Nawrocki later travelled to the tribunal, where disagreements with newly elected judges further heightened tensions.

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026

Tensions escalated after police were deployed around the tribunal and judicial and political authorities took steps affecting the court's leadership.

From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026

It wasn’t until April 2023 that an international arbitration tribunal in The Hague ruled that Gazprom had unlawfully expropriated Naftogaz’s Crimean assets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026

The tribunal heard that in July 2020, a doctor got in touch because she was worried about a patient who had gone to an online clinic which was registered overseas.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

After the war Orff claimed falsely at his de-Nazification tribunal that he had himself been involved in the founding of the White Rose movement.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

The arm of the Defense Department provides legal counsel for people facing military tribunals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026

"International courts and tribunals must be able to freely carry out their mandates," he added.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

"What we're seeing in tribunals is rarely the result of deliberate discrimination," says Lutfur Ali, a diversity and inclusion adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, the professional body for HR.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026

The court is the heir to the Nuremberg tribunals that tried Nazis after World War II.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026

The most important interests and rights of the people under the constitution and laws of the country have been differently decided by the same court of last resort in both national and state tribunals.

From Monopolies and the People by D. C. Cloud

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