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

Somaliland also stands out for its relative stability compared to the rest of the country, which has been plagued by Islamist insurgencies and clan conflicts for decades.

From Barron's

In Somalia, the biggest beneficiary was the Hawadle clan, which formed militias known as Macwiisley after the traditional sarongs they wore, and were showered with weapons and logistical support by the government.

From Barron's

Because the home has been staged, buyers won’t be able to sit at the very kitchen table where the Kardashian clan gossiped over salads, or the poolside lounges where they often sunned themselves.

From MarketWatch

Gussalli Beretta said there is no magic Italian recipe for his clan’s almost unique five centuries of ownership of a large company.

From The Wall Street Journal

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

Related Words

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