tribunal

noun

tri·​bu·​nal trī-ˈbyü-nᵊl 

tri-

1

: a court or forum of justice

2

: something that decides or determines

the tribunal of public opinion

3

: tribune entry 2

Synonyms

• bar
• bench
• court
• forum

Examples of tribunal in a Sentence

An international tribunal was formed to deal with war crimes.

was tried before a military tribunal and found not guilty of the charges

Recent Examples on the Web

Jeremy Rintoul, an upper tribunal judge, granted Campbell permission to appeal the five-year ban after receiving and reviewing new evidence uncovered by Campbell’s team. —Samantha Conti, WWD, 6 Feb. 2025

While Margaret Josephs convening a pre-reunion tribunal to discuss the reunion at her house was maybe too much, this was definitely too little. —Brian Moylan, Vulture, 28 Jan. 2025

In the dock before a British military tribunal in the German city of Lüneburg were the SS officers and guards who had run Bergen-Belsen, many of whom had previously served at Auschwitz-Birkenau. —Menachem Z. Rosensaft, TIME, 27 Jan. 2025

Alexandra Karadima: Of course, predictive justice refers to the application of the artificial intelligence and data analytics to forecast legal outcomes such as how court or tribunals might rule on specific cases and issues. —Tax Notes Staff, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin, platform for magistrates, from tribunus tribune

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Kids Definition

tribunal

noun

tri·​bu·​nal trī-ˈbyün-ᵊl 

trib-ˈyün-

1

: the seat of a judge

2

: a court of justice

3

: something that decides or determines

the tribunal of public opinion

Legal Definition

tribunal

noun

tri·​bu·​nal trī-ˈbyün-ᵊl, tri- 

1

: the seat of a judge or one acting as a judge

2

: a court or forum of justice : a person or body of persons having to hear and decide disputes so as to bind the parties

Etymology

Latin, platform for magistrates, from tribunus tribune, from tribus tribe