clan Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun group of people related by blood or marriage
    tribe; kindred; kin group; kin; kinship group.

WordNet

Clan noun
Etymology
Gael. clann offspring, descendants; akin to Ir. clann, cland, offspring, tribe, family; perh. from L. plania scion, slip, cutting. Cf. Plant, n.
Definitions
  1. A tribe or collection of families, united under a chieftain, regarded as having the same common ancestor, and bearing the same surname; as, the clan of Macdonald. "I have marshaled my clan." Campbell.
  2. A clique; a sect, society, or body of persons; esp., a body of persons united by some common interest or pursuit; -- sometimes used contemptuously.
    Partidge and the rest of his clan may hoot me. Smolett.
    The whole clan of the enlightened among us. Burke.

Webster 1913