clan
\klɑ̃\
The verdict
“clan” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #4,412 in French word frequency and used as a noun.
- #4,412
- frequency rank, French
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Chez les Celtes, tribu formée d’un certain nombre de familles.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | clan |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \klɑ̃\ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #4,412 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “clan” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for clan is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \klɑ̃\. Corpus data places it at rank #4,412 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for clan, with forms such as "caln", "cclan", and "clann". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "CN", "con", "clé", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is clan, spelled C-L-A-N.
Definition
- 1Chez les Celtes, tribu formée d’un certain nombre de familles.
- 2Chez les Amérindiens, famille élargie, dont l'association à d'autres clans formait une tribu.
- 3Ensemble de personnes que réunissent des liens familiaux réels ou supposés.
- 4Coterie sociale ou politique.
- 5Groupe de joueurs qui jouent régulièrement ensemble.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: caln,cclan,clann,cllan,clna,lcan
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of clan - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "clan"?
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Using “clan”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is C-L-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \klɑ̃\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “CN” - see the side-by-side comparison. clan vs CN
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.