Today, a largely defunct comparative concept from the colonial era, the term tribe once designated allegedly 'primitive' local medium-sized social entities with some territorial rights. From its contexts of emergence, the term often attained largely pejorative connotations including nonhistorical qualities of secluded stability. The term still is in current usage for legal and political reasons in many parts of the world, although sometimes being confused with ethnic groups and other more appropriate notions. In ethnoarchaeology, history, and anthropology, it may continue to serve as a scientific concept for certain descriptive purposes if liberated from its ideological connotations.