Word Study
clan
CIDE DICTIONARY
clan, n. [Gael. clann offspring, descendants; akin to Ir. clann, cland, offspring, tribe, family; perh. from L. plania scion, slip, cutting. Cf. Plant, n. ].
- 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. Campbell. [1913 Webster]
- A clique; a sect, society, or body of persons; esp., a body of persons united by some common interest or pursuit; -- sometimes used contemptuously. [1913 Webster]"Partidge and the rest of his clan may hoot me." [1913 Webster]"The whole clan of the enlightened among us." [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
clan, n.
1 a group of people with a common ancestor, esp. in the Scottish Highlands.
2 a large family as a social group.
3 a group with a strong common interest.
4 a a genus, species, or class. b a family or group of animals, e.g. elephants.
1 a group of people with a common ancestor, esp. in the Scottish Highlands.
2 a large family as a social group.
3 a group with a strong common interest.
4 a a genus, species, or class. b a family or group of animals, e.g. elephants.
Etymology
ME f. Gael. clann f. L planta sprout
THESAURUS
clan
animal kingdom, ashram, band, blood, body, bracket, branch, brand, breed, brood, brotherhood, bunch, cabal, cadre, camarilla, camp, cast, caste, category, cell, character, charmed circle, circle, class, clique, closed circle, colony, color, commonwealth, commune, community, coterie, crew, crowd, deme, denomination, description, designation, division, dynasty, economic class, elite, elite group, endogamous group, estate, extended family, faction, family, feather, fellowship, folk, form, fraternity, gang, genre, gens, genus, grade, grain, group, grouping, head, heading, house, ilk, ingroup, inner circle, junta, junto, kidney, kin, kind, kindred, kinship group, label, level, line, lineage, lot, make, manner, mark, matriclan, mob, moiety, mold, nation, nature, nuclear family, number, order, outfit, party, patriclan, people, persuasion, phratria, phratry, phyle, phylum, pigeonhole, plant kingdom, position, predicament, race, rank, rating, ring, rubric, section, sept, set, settlement, shape, sly, social class, society, sort, species, stamp, station, status, stem, stirps, stock, strain, stratum, stripe, style, subcaste, subdivision, subgroup, suborder, the like of, the likes of, title, totem, tribe, type, variety, we-groupROGET THESAURUS
clan
Consanguinity
N consanguinity, relationship, kindred, blood, parentage, filiation, affiliation, lineage, agnation, connection, alliance, family connection, family tie, ties of blood, nepotism, kinsman, kinfolk, kith and kin, relation, relative, connection, sibling, sib, next of kin, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, cousin, cousin- german, first cousin, second cousin, cousin once removed, cousin twice removed, ear relation, distant relation, brother, sister, one's own flesh and blood, family, fraternity, brotherhood, sisterhood, cousinhood, race, stock, generation, sept, stirps, side, strain, breed, clan, tribe, nation, related, akin, consanguineous, of the blood, family, allied, collateral, cognate, agnate, connate, kindred, affiliated, fraternal, intimately related, nearly related, closely related, remotely related, distantly related, allied, german.Assemblage
N assemblage, collection, collocation, colligation, compilation, levy, gathering, ingathering, muster, attroupement, team, concourse, conflux, congregation, contesseration, convergence, meeting, levee, reunion, drawing room, at home, conversazione, assembly, congress, convention, conventicle, gemote, conclave, posse, posse comitatus, Noah's ark, miscellany, collectanea, museum, menagerie, museology, crowd, throng, group, flood, rush, deluge, rabble, mob, press, crush, cohue, horde, body, tribe, crew, gang, knot, squad, band, party, swarm, shoal, school, covey, flock, herd, drove, atajo, bunch, drive, force, mulada, remuda, roundup, array, bevy, galaxy, corps, company, troop, troupe, task force, army, regiment, host, populousness, clan, brotherhood, fraternity, sorority, association, volley, shower, storm, cloud, group, cluster, Pleiades, clump, pencil, set, batch, lot, pack, budget, assortment, bunch, parcel, packet, package, bundle, fascine, fasces, bale, seron, seroon, fagot, wisp, truss, tuft, shock, rick, fardel, stack, sheaf, haycock, fascicle, fascicule, fasciculus, gavel, hattock, stook, accumulation, congeries, heap, lump, pile, rouleau, tissue, mass, pyramid, bing, drift, snowball, snowdrift, acervation, cumulation, glomeration, agglomeration, conglobation, conglomeration, conglomerate, coacervate, coacervation, coagmentation, aggregation, concentration, congestion, omnium gaterum, spicilegium, black hole of Calcutta, quantity, collector, gatherer, whip, whipper in, assembled, closely packed, dense, serried, crowded to suffocation, teeming, swarming, populous, as thick as hops, all of a heap, fasciculated cumulative, the plot thickens, acervatim, tibi seris tibi metis.Class
N class, division, category, categorema, head, order, section, department, subdepartment, province, domain, kind, sort, genus, species, variety, family, order, kingdom, race, tribe, caste, sept, clan, breed, type, subtype, kit, sect, set, subset, assortment, feather, kidney, suit, range, gender, sex, kin, manner, description, denomination, designation, rubric, character, stamp predicament, indication, particularization, selection, specification, similarity.Party
N party, faction, side, denomination, communion, set, crew, band, horde, posse, phalanx, family, clan, team, tong, council, community, body, fellowship, sodality, solidarity, confraternity, familistere, familistery, brotherhood, sisterhood, knot, gang, clique, ring, circle, group, crowd, in-crowd, coterie, club, casino, machine, Tammany, Tammany Hall, corporation, corporate body, guild, establishment, company, copartnership, partnership, firm, house, joint concern, joint-stock company, cahoot, combine, trust, society, association, institute, institution, union, trades union, league, syndicate, alliance, Verein, Bund, Zollverein, combination, Turnverein, league offensive and defensive, alliance offensive and defensive, coalition, federation, confederation, confederacy, junto, cabal, camarilla, camorra, brigue, freemasonry, party spirit, Confederates, Conservatives, Democrats, Federalists, Federals, Freemason, Knight Templar, Kuklux, Kuklux Klan, KKK, Liberals, Luddites, Republicans, Socialists, Tories, Whigs staff, dramatis personae, in league, in partnership, in alliance, bonded together, banded together, linked, joined together, embattled, confederated, federative, joint, hand in hand, side by side, shoulder to shoulder, en masse, in the same boat.Paternity
N paternity, parentage, consanguinity, parent, father, sire, dad, papa, paterfamilias, abba, genitor, progenitor, procreator, ancestor, grandsire, grandfather, great- grandfather, fathership, fatherhood, mabap, house, stem, trunk, tree, stock, stirps, pedigree, lineage, line, family, tribe, sept, race, clan, genealogy, descent, extraction, birth, ancestry, forefathers, forbears, patriarchs, motherhood, maternity, mother, dam, mamma, materfamilias, grandmother, paternal, parental, maternal, family, ancestral, linear, patriarchal, avi numerantur avorum, happy he with such a mother, hombre bueno no le busquen abolengo, philosophia stemma non inspicit.For further exploring for "clan" in Webster Dictionary Online