Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Clan

Clan (klan) , noun

[Gael. clann offspring, descendants; akin to Ir. clann, cland, offspring, tribe, family; perh. from Latin plania scion, slip, cutting. Compare Plant, n.]

1.
A tribe or collection of families, united under a chieftain, regarded as having the same common ancestor, and bearing the same surname; as, the clan of Macdonald.
I have marshaled my clan. — Campbell
2.
A clique; a sect, society, or body of persons; esp., a body of persons united by some common interest or pursuit; -- sometimes used contemptuously.
Partidge and the rest of his clan may hoot me. — Smolett
The whole clan of the enlightened among us. — Burke