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Definition of clan : 1. A clique; a sect, society, or body of persons; esp., a body of persons united by some common interest or pursuit; - sometimes used contemptuously.
2. 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.

Synonyms:

kinsperson, federation of tribes, flesh and blood, kindred, moiety, kinship group, folk, house, kin group, association, kith and kin

grain, sort, kind, denomination, kingdom, step, persuasion, stock, type, species, make, grade, rank, feather, classification, form, stamp, mold, people, phylum, race, style, class, level, ilk, genus, series, caste, brand, breed, line, category, variety, stripe, taxonomy, order, genotype, label, degree, strain, designation

brother, brotherhood, motherhood, father, family, flesh, aunt, kin, kinfolk, paternity, uncle, kinship, cousin, niece, lineage, fatherhood, sister, consanguinity, maternity, nephew, relation, relative, sisterhood, mother, ancestor, heredity, blood

covey, herd, force, detail, division, troop, posse, fellowship, cell, retinue, litter, flock, fleet, bunch, colony, wing, band, coterie, battalion, detachment, fraternity, group, sect, team, caucus, society, crowd, union, collection, assemblage, outfit, party, pack, junta, coalition, school, circle, regiment, nest, platoon, hive, phalanx, army, set, string, complement, gang, tribe, crew, league, faction, body, ring, staff, host, cadre, aggregation, brigade, drove, mob, bevy, troupe, cabal, club, clique, assembly, squad, company

Usage examples:

• In all great battles, triumph oft doth hinge On questions small, but oft of great import; No matter if the sacrifice be great, So long as victory doth greet our clan. - "'A Comedy of Errors' in Seven Acts", Spokeshave (AKA Old Fogy).
• We think of a particular house or village where we were born and where we spent our impressionable days of childhood; these others regard home not as a geographical but as a social centre, liable to shift from place to place; they are at home everywhere, so long as their clan is about them. - "Old Calabria", Norman Douglas.
• Most of the Albanians forsook Christianity and are among the most fanatical and warlike upholders of Islam; but in their turbulent clan- life they often defy the authority of the Sultan, and uphold it only in order to keep their supremacy over the hated and despised Greeks and Bulgars on their outskirts. - "The Development of the European Nations, 1870-1914 (5th ed.)", John Holland Rose.