clique

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small, exclusive group whose members associate closely and may use their influence to exclude outsiders

   An unelected governing clique controlled appointments throughout the ministry.

2. 2
   noun

   in graph theory, a set of vertices in which every pair is connected by an edge

   The algorithm searches the network for the largest clique.

Borrowed in the early eighteenth century from French clique, originally associated with a sharp clicking noise and probably imitative in origin. Its group sense was influenced by related French claque, a body of hired applauders, and soon acquired the idea of an exclusive faction.

Topics