Clansfolk is a compound of clan + folk. Clan is from Scottish Gaelic clann ('children, family'), ultimately from Latin planta ('offshoot'); folk is from Old English folc ('people'). The historical trail runs through clann in Scottish Gaelic and folc in Old English. Morphologically, clansfolk is transparent: it is a compound of clan + folk. Used as a noun, clansfolk now means "the members of a clan collectively", so the present definition can be read against the older forms and meanings. The same lexical family is also visible in related forms such as clan, folk, and clansman. The result is a borrowed or transmitted form whose modern spelling carries a compact record of its route into English.