clan

plural clans

1. collectiveanthropologyA group of people all descended from a common ancestor, in fact or belief, especially when the exact genealogies are not known.
2. ScotlandcollectiveA traditional social group of families in the Scottish Highlands having a common hereditary chieftain.
3. collectiveAny group defined by family ties with some sort of political unity.

   Holonym: nation

   2 more examples

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

   As a rule, you see, I'm not lugged into Family Rows. On the occasions when Aunt is calling to Aunt like mastodons bellowing across primeval swamps and Uncle James's letter about Cousin Mabel's peculiar behaviour is being shot round the family circle... the clan has a tendency to ignore me.

   1923, P.G. Wodehouse, The Inimitable Jeeves

   Synonyms: canton

   1. Malaysiacollectivetraditional main matrilineal subunit of the Minangkabau people (suku) esp. in Negeri Sembilan

      Synonyms: canton

4. collectivevideo gamesA group of players who habitually play on the same team in multiplayer games.
5. collectiveA group of badgers.

   if the clan of badgers next door isn't marking its boundaries

   2017, Stephan Price, Thinking Through Badgers, Vernon Press, page 246

   2 more examples

   it might support a clan of badgers willing to share, although not necessarily to compromise, their individual food security to gain the advantage of reduced food defence costs.

   2022, David Macdonald, Chris Newman, The Badgers of Wytham Woods

   One fascinating, but not entirely unexpected, finding from my semi-captive clan of badgers is that any aggression between the individuals builds up to a horrible crescendo if their food gets scarce.

   2019, Prof. Hans Kruuk, The Call of Carnivores, Pelagic Publishing

   Synonyms: cete