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Chieftain vs Clan - What's the difference?

chieftain | clan |

As nouns the difference between chieftain and clan

is that chieftain is a leader of a clan or tribe while clan is a group of people all descended from a common ancestor, in fact or belief.

chieftain

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A leader of a clan or tribe.
  • A leader of a group, e.g. a robbers' chieftain.

    • Synonyms

    * (A very powerful person) chief, big gun, big shot, big wheel, bigwig, boss, employer, foreman, head, heid bummer, leader, mandarin, manager, mover and shaker, top banana, top dog, tycoon

    clan

    English

    (wikipedia clan)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (anthropology) A group of people all descended from a common ancestor, in fact or belief.
  • A traditional social group of families in the Scottish Highlands having a common hereditary chieftain
  • Any association of people behaving clannishly.
  • (video games) A group of players who habitually play on the same team in multiplayer games.
  • A badger colony.

    • Derived terms

    * clannish * matriclan * patriclan

    Descendants

    * Dutch: (l) * German: (l)