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

The tribunal concluded that the trust had indirectly discriminated against them.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Chief prosecutor Gerville Luistro told the tribunal the decision would ease the court's job and speed up the conclusion of the trial, which began on July 6.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026

In April, the EU's top tribunal, the European Court of Justice found that the 2021 law violated "the very identity" of the bloc.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026

A spokesperson for Curo said that it had "already agreed these reductions before the tribunal took place".

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

On November 13, 2001, President Bush issued an order to set up a military tribunal system to try the men accused of helping the hijackers.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

The ICC, based in The Hague, is heir to the Nuremberg tribunals that prosecuted Nazi war criminals after World War II and special courts that held trials after the Yugoslav wars and the Rwandan genocide.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

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

The government says it is recruiting up to 1,000 judges and tribunal members across all courts and tribunals.

From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2026

It is more probable, however, that this, or something very near it, was the original signification of the word from which the tribunals took their name.

From Secret Societies of the Middle Ages by Thomas Keightley

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