clan definition | Open Education Sociology Dictionary

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clan

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(noun) A group of people descended from a common ancestor such as an individual, animal, mythical being, or plant.

Syllabification: clan

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– American English

– British English

Phonetic Spelling

International Phonetic Alphabet

Plural: clans
According to some social scientists, the term clan only relates to a descent group traced though the mother and gens is the term for descent through the father, whereas sibs is used for both types.
When a clan traces their origin to a mythical creature, this a type of totemism.
Clans are typically unilineal, either matrilinealor patrilineal.
Clan is often used informally to refer to any family such as the Bell clan or other group such as a clan of sociologists or gamers.
In common use the term clan typically refers to people with Irish or Scottish heritage.

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “clan.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 19, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/clan/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

clan. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/clan/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “clan.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 19, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/clan/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“clan.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/clan/>.