Note 26 — Chapter I · THE POPULUS AND ITS EARLIEST POLITICAL DIVISIONS
Reading edition
Varro, L. L. v. 55. Tribus = tri-bu-s: bu- is related to φυ- “to grow,” Skt. bhū-; tribus, corresponding to φυ-λή, would then signify “three-branch;” Corssen, Ausspr. i. 163; Pott, Etym. Forsch. i. 111, 217; ii. 441; Vaniček, Etym. Wörterb. d. lat. Spr. 69; Griech.-lat. etym. Wörterb. 636; Bloch, ibid. 9. Schlossman, in Archiv f. lat. Lexicog. xiv (1905). 25-40, connecting tribus with tres, interprets it not as a third but as an indefinite part, cf. entzweien with the meaning to divide in several parts. Schrader, Reallex. 801, is doubtful as to the etymology; cf. Walde, Lat. etym. Wörterb. 636. The connection of the word with tres is denied by Madvig, Röm. Staat. i. 96; Nissen, Ital. Landesk. ii. 8, n. 5. Christ, in Sitzb. d. bayer. Akad. 1906. 204, prefers to connect it with Celt *trebo- (Old Irish treb), “house,” Goth. thaúrp, “village.” Oscan trebo- also means “house.”