clan

[klan]

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.

clan

/ 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

• clanless adjective
• interclan adjective
• subclan noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of clan¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of clan¹

C14: from Scottish Gaelic clann family, descendants, from Latin planta sprout, _plant ¹

Example Sentences

Historic Assynt, which helps to look after the former seat of clan MacLeod of Assynt, said it had only recently been able to repair the wall after it was damaged a few months ago.

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Like that earlier work, “The Thanksgiving Visitor” is also drawn from Capote’s boyhood within a clan of eccentric relatives that included an older cousin and mother figure known as Sook.

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Surveyors interviewed people face to face on the Hamas side of the cease-fire dividing line as the militant group was engaging in battles with armed clans and carrying out public executions.

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He’s a runt whose father tries to kill him to purge weakness from the clan of apex hunters.

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Examples are now being made out of the families: 11 members of the Ming clan and five of the Bais have been sentenced to death, while dozens have been given lengthy jail terms.

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Related Words

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