Clans

1. A traditional social unit in the Scottish Highlands, consisting of a number of families claiming a common ancestor and following the same hereditary chieftain.

2. A division of a tribe tracing descent from a common ancestor.

3. A large group of relatives, friends, or associates.

[Middle English, from Scottish Gaelic clann, family, from Old Irish cland, offspring, from Latin planta, plant, sprout; see plat- in Indo-European roots.]

Word History: The word clan is, from the etymological point of view, the same word as plant. Such a statement may at first appear unlikely to English speakers, since the two words begin with very different consonants. But to the speakers of the Celtic language of Ireland in the 400s, known as Old Irish, c and p sounded quite similar. When St. Patrick converted Ireland to Christianity in the 5th century, the Old Irish language had no consonant p. After their conversion, the Irish began to borrow many words from Latin, and when the speakers of early Old Irish tried to pronounce the sound p in Latin words, the best they could manage was a (kw) or (k) sound, spelled c in Old Irish. For instance, the Latin words purpura, 'purple,' and Pascha, 'Easter,' were borrowed as corcur and Casc. (Later, as their language continued to develop and change, the Irish learned to cope with p, and Modern Irish has many words containing this consonant.) The early Irish also borrowed the Latin word planta meaning 'sprout' or 'sprig,'—also the source of the English word plant—and pronounced it cland. In Old Irish, cland was used to mean not only 'offshoot of a plant' but also 'offspring,' 'family,' and 'clan.' The word cland was carried to the area that is now Scotland when speakers of Old Irish gained power in the region in the late 400s. The form of Old Irish spoken in Scotland eventually developed into the language now known as Scottish Gaelic. In Scottish Gaelic, cland developed the form clann, and it was from Scottish Gaelic that the word clan entered English in the 15th century, at first with reference to the clans of the Scottish Highlands.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

1. (Anthropology & Ethnology) a group of people interrelated by ancestry or marriage

2. (Anthropology & Ethnology) a group of families with a common surname and a common ancestor, acknowledging the same leader, esp among the Scots and the Irish

3. a group of people united by common characteristics, aims, or interests

[C14: from Scottish Gaelic clann family, descendants, from Latin planta sprout, plant¹]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

1. a group of families or households among the Scottish Highlanders, the heads of which claim descent from a common ancestor.

2. a group of people of common descent; family: Our whole clan gathers for Thanksgiving.

3. a clique, party, or other group united by some common interest.

[1375–1425; late Middle English (Scots) < Scottish Gaelic clann, Old Irish cland offspring < Latin planta scion, plant]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

Examples: clan o’ bairns [‘children’], 1855; of the enlightened, 1790; of false traitors, 1552; of hounds, 1735.

Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

A group of people who claim to be descended from the same ancestor through either male or female links or both. It may be impossible to trace these links.

Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words by Diagram Group Copyright © 2008 by Diagram Visual Information Limited

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Idioms: flesh and blood, kith and kin.

The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

a tribe or group of families (especially Scottish) under a single chief, usually all having one surname. stam عَشيرَه، قَبيلَه клан clã klan, rod die Sippe klan φάρα, φατρίαclan klann خاندان؛ طایفه klaani clanשבט जाति klan, rod klán klan, marga ættflokkasamtök clan 一族 씨족 klanas klans; ģints suku kaum clanklan, ætt, stammeklan خاندان clA clan клан; род klan pleme, rodbina klan klan เผ่า; ตระกูล kabile, klan 蘇格蘭高地人的氏族，部族 клан, рід قبیلہ ، نسل thị tộc 苏格兰高地人的氏族，部族

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.