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

"In Corsica the clans are not linked by family ties or rituals of lifelong loyalty, but by simple opportunism," Dominici says.

From BBC

It is the females who have proven the most groundbreaking members of the clan: They are the only non-human animal to systematically use tools to hunt.

From Barron's

I’m continually assaulted by images of the Kardashians, the ultimate hot-mom clan, who’ve set the bar for the rest of us plebs, showing off their sculpted figures and eerily frozen faces.

From The Wall Street Journal

The sequel—again starring Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin—sees the clan having to leave the safety of the bunker it calls home in search of a new place to live.

From The Wall Street Journal

One man’s biographical note stands out: that of Sheikh Sarkar, the patriarch of a clan that provides the “hereditary muscle” for a family of Punjabi landowners.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

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