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clan

[klan]

noun

a group of families or households, as among the Scottish Highlanders, the heads of which claim descent from a common ancestor: the Mackenzie clan.

a group of people of common descent; family: Our whole clan got together for Thanksgiving.

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.

Anthropology.

the principal social unit of tribal organization, in which descent is reckoned exclusively in either the paternal or the maternal line.

a group of people regarded as being descended from a common ancestor.

Origin:
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

Related forms

clan·less, adjective

in·ter·clan, adjective

sub·clan, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To clan

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Clan is always a great word to know.

So is doohickey. Does it mean:

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

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Example Sentences

Members of a male clan and a female clan pair off graciously, inspired by country dancing.

Instead, he suggests, support should be directed towards local leaders and clan elders.

One big question raised by the new study is whether any life could survive expulsion from its planetary clan.

EXPAND

Members of a male clan and a female clan pair off graciously, inspired by country dancing.

Instead, he suggests, support should be directed towards local leaders and clan elders.

One big question raised by the new study is whether any life could survive expulsion from its planetary clan.

Aggression decreases as play emerges in infant spotted hyaenas: preparation for joining the clan.

They're not identical, but there's no sign of genetic differences large enough to explain clan differences.

Somalia's tight clan bonds have helped to set up worldwide banking networks.

Worker animals dig the burrows that the whole clan inhabits, using their prominent teeth and snouts.

It seems that everywhere you find a group of humans, you'll find a clan of rats hiding in the shadows.

Every piece of terrain is considered owned or controlled by some tribe or clan.

But the result was that ministers owed allegiance not to the government but to the clan elders who nominated them.

Here, family bonds and clan loyalties still matter more than national allegiance.

The net makes the informational boundaries of the clan disappear.

The freedom fighters then stepped aside, to allow clan leaders to organize a new government.

Meanwhile he has concentrated ever more power and wealth in the hands of his own extended family and clan.

Scarification is also a sign of one's village, tribe, and clan for both men and women.

His father being a famous poet and the chief of their clan.

Whether this translates into votes in a society where patronage and clan loyalties still largely hold sway is not yet clear.

The structure and property would revert back to the clan when the lease expired.

The research suggests that the members of the crime clan were not as good at telling time as they were at ritual murder.

And the true booty is the camaraderie that comes with joining a select clan of people who step up to such a singular challenge.

They were shunned from the clan and were less likely to breed and survive.

His father and grandfather were loggers, and his mother came from a clan of fishermen.

The clan around him has enjoyed its decade in power and is loth to give up the fruits of office.

The resource constraints which led to a more inclusive government gave each clan a stake in maintaining stability.

The finest plumes were used as bride price, and the birds figure prominently in local myths as ancestors and clan totems.

But the local police, who are of the same clan as the constable, refused to file charges.

In contrast, when newly matured females leave to join a clan of males.

Even in patrilineal tribes, women served as clan mothers, advising men behind the scenes.

The ties between human clan and crocodile are strong and deep.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

clan (klæn)

—n
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

[C14: from Scottish Gaelic clann family, descendants, from Latin planta sprout, plant¹]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

clan

c.1425, from Gael. clann "family, stock, offspring," akin to O.Ir. cland "offspring, tribe," both from L. planta "offshoot" (see plant (n.)). Gaelic (Goidelic) Celtic had no initial p-, so it substituted k- or c- for L. p-.

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"Peace is no more than a dream as long as we need the comfort of the clan."

-Peter Nicols

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