clan

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A large group of families descended from a common ancestor.

   The whole clan gathers every summer for a family reunion.

2. 2
   noun

   A traditional group of related families in the Scottish Highlands led by a hereditary chief.

   Each Scottish clan has its own distinctive tartan.

Borrowed from Irish clann (“offspring, children of the family”) and Scottish Gaelic clann, both from Old Irish cland, borrowed from Old Welsh plant, itself borrowed from Latin planta (“shoot, offspring”). Doublet of plant and planta.

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