clan

American  

[klan] / klæn /

noun

• clans
  plural

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.

---

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

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subclan
  noun
• clanless
  adjective
• interclan
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• clans
  plural

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

Explanation

A clan is an extended family. Your clan might include your parents and siblings, but also your cousins and second cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. Families that are related to each other, whether through marriage or as distant cousins, are members of the same clan. If you get together with a big family group every summer, you can say you vacation with your clan. In Scotland, a person's clan has a specific name, like "clan MacLachlan." The word comes from the Gaelic clann, "family" or "offspring," with the Latin root planta, "offshoot."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

clan clans

Hosted at King Charles III’s private estate in Aberdeenshire, the vacation is normally a time for the wider royal clan to get together, decompress, have barbecues and go hunting, away from the public eye.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

The “G3” in the company name references a nickname for the third generation of the Gallo clan, but Gallo and G3 Enterprises are legally independent companies, Bream said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

Forty children, 38 women and seven people with disabilities were listed among the dead from the Abu Sharia and Hassayna families, who are one clan.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

This culinary artist is one of that clan of uncompromising foodie obsessives who are beginning to become a cliché in popular culture.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

Nhamo’s clan name was Gurundoro, which, Grandmother explained, meant “the people who wear the ndoro.”

From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer

More than 40, however, are family offices that manage fortunes for wealthy clans and individuals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

But it didn’t go down well with many Sinaloan clans, enabling the Mayitos to make their own alliances.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026

The Ming family was one of several clans that ran Myanmar's sleepy town of Laukkaing, close to the border with China.

From BBC ● Jan. 28, 2026

The determination, released Wednesday, is not the final say but signals a possibility that several clans of the iconic cougars will be listed under the California Endangered Species Act.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2025

“But won’t the clans think we’re just trying to manipulate them?”

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline

Related Words

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