n. In ancient Rome, a clan or house embracing several families claiming descent from a common ancestor, united by a common name and by certain religious rites and legal privileges and obligations, but not necessarily by consanguinity: as, the Fabian gens, all bearing the name Fabius; the Julian gens, all named Julius; the Cornelian gens, etc.n. In historical and ethnological use, a tribe or clan; any community of persons in a primitive state of society constituting a distinct or independent branch of a general aggregate or race.