clan

American  

[klan] / klæn /

noun

1. a group of families or households, as among the Scottish Highlanders, the heads of which claim descent from a common ancestor.

   the Mackenzie clan.

2. a group of people of common descent; family.

   Our whole clan got together for Thanksgiving.

3. a group of people, as a clique, set, society, or party, especially as united by some common trait, characteristic, or interest.

   a clan of actors and directors.

4. Anthropology.

   1. the principal social unit of tribal organization, in which descent is reckoned exclusively in either the paternal or the maternal line.

   2. a group of people regarded as being descended from a common ancestor.

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clan British  

/ klæn /

noun

1. a group of people interrelated by ancestry or marriage

2. a group of families with a common surname and a common ancestor, acknowledging the same leader, esp among the Scots and the Irish

3. a group of people united by common characteristics, aims, or interests

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Other Word Forms

• clanless adjective
• interclan adjective
• subclan noun

Etymology

Origin of clan

1375–1425; late Middle English ( Scots ) < Scots Gaelic clann < Old Irish cland offspring < Latin planta scion, plant, perhaps directly < British Celtic; compare Welsh plant children

Example Sentences

Ms. Goodman finds the right measure of sugar in this novel-in-stories depicting three generations of Rubinsteins, an East Coast Jewish-American clan tenuously bound by love, ritual and guilt trips.

From The Wall Street Journal

Last November the court sentenced five of them to death including the clan's patriarch Bai Suocheng, who died of illness after his conviction, state media reported.

From BBC

“My name is Galatia; these waters are mine and my clan’s. I smelled the glimourie on her. U gehygd. I knew her for what she is. Sáwoll. And so I came.”

From Literature

South Africa has several recognised monarchs representing different ethnic groups and clans, but they have no formal political power.

From BBC

Thompson’s Benedict, whom “Bridgerton” viewers have come to know as the artistic, pansexual second-oldest son of the Bridgerton clan, has long shown disinterest in settling down or adhering to societal norms.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• band
• faction
• gang
• mob
• sect
• society
• tribe