late 14c., title of an official in ancient Rome, from Latin tribunus "magistrate" (specifically one of the officers appointed to protect the rights and interests of the plebeians from the patricians), originally "head of a tribe" (in the Roman sense), from tribus (see tribe). Also "raised platform" (1762), from Italian tribuna, from Medieval Latin tribuna, from Latin tribunal in its classical sense "platform for the seats of magistrates in ancient Rome."