English
hilltribe
From hill + tribe.
Proto-Indo-European *kl̥Hnís ‘top, hill, rock’
Proto-Germanic *hulliz ‘hill’
Proto-West Germanic *hulli ‘hill’
Old English hyll ‘hill’
Middle English hil ‘hill’
English hill
Proto-Indo-European *tréyes ‘three’
…
Latin trēs ‘three’
Latin tribus ‘one of the three original tribes of Rome:…’
Old French tribu
Middle English tribe ‘one of the twelve tribes of Israel’
English tribe
Today it means
noun A tribe that inhabits a hilly region.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / hilltribe