tribunal
Americannoun
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a court of justice.
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a place or seat of judgment.
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Also called tribune. a raised platform for the seats of magistrates, as in an ancient Roman basilica.
noun
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a court of justice or any place where justice is administered
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(in Britain) a special court, convened by the government to inquire into a specific matter
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a raised platform containing the seat of a judge or magistrate, originally that in a Roman basilica
Etymology
Origin of tribunal
1520–30; < Latin tribūnal, tribūnāle judgment seat, equivalent to tribūn ( us ) tribune 1 + -āl ( e ) -al 2
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.
Vocabulary lists containing tribunal
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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The Constitution of the United States
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"The Lady, or the Tiger?" by Frank R. Stockton
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The employment tribunal found his claims were "not well-founded".
From BBC • Jun. 2, 2026
The former president was arrested last year and handed over to the Netherlands-based tribunal.
From Barron's • Jun. 1, 2026
The tribunal found that, in her case, "the holiday pay was not calculated on a true average of gross pay or in accordance with government guidelines".
From BBC • May 31, 2026
In July last year, an employment tribunal found Littlewood's complaints were all "well-founded".
From BBC • May 31, 2026
Sixteen years earlier, on August 20, 1947, a U.S.- led war tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany, had sentenced seven Nazi doctors to death by hanging.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
