clan

noun

ˈklan 

1

a

: a Celtic group especially in the Scottish Highlands comprising a number of households whose heads claim descent from a common ancestor

the MacDonald clan

b

: a group of people tracing descent from a common ancestor : family

The whole clan gets together for the holidays.

2

: a group united by a common interest or common characteristics

the country club clan

Synonyms

• body
• bunch
• circle
• clique
• community
• coterie
• coven
• crowd
• fold
• galère
• gang
• klatch
• klatsch
• lot
• network
• pack
• ring
• set

Examples of clan in a Sentence

The tribe is divided into clans.

The whole clan gets together for the holidays.

Recent Examples on the Web

Soukup hails from an extensive Deaf family, with numerous members of his clan being Deaf except for his CODA mother. —Steven Aquino, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2024

Among them is their human familiar, Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), who tries to keep up with the clan's everyday chaos in hopes of one day becoming immortal. —EW.com, 30 Sep. 2024

In these privileged clans, a few dominant male rats mated with (and protected) a larger number of females. —Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 30 Sep. 2024

The famed banking family spent a whopping $99 million when buying Domaine William Fèvre from the Pinault clan, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. —Tori Latham, Robb Report, 19 Sep. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Scottish Gaelic clann offspring, clan, from Old Irish cland plant, offspring, from Latin planta plant

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing clan

• inter-clan
• sub-clan

Kids Definition

clan

noun

ˈklan 

1

a

: a group (as in the Scottish Highlands) made up of households whose heads claim to have a common ancestor

b

: a group of people having a common ancestor : family

2

: a group of persons united by a common interest

the whole clan of actors