clan

CEFRB2

/klæn/

noun

Türkçe translations

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In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A group of families or people with a common ancestor.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A traditional social group of families in the Scottish Highlands having a common hereditary chieftain.

Examples

  • Recite the names of the members of the Tokugawa clan.

  • These figures are signs of a family or clan.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
1
Synonyms
1

Also pronounced

  • /klan/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. Any group defined by family ties with some sort of political unity.

  2. A group of people all descended from a common ancestor, in fact or belief, especially when the exact genealogies are not known.

  3. A group of players who habitually play on the same team in multiplayer games.

More examples

In context

  • Near-synonym: canton (uncommon outside of certain dialects)

  • Holonym: nation

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

Every member of the blank gathered for the annual harvest festival.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.