1903, in botany, "group of cultivated plants each of which is a transplanted part of one original," from Latinized form of Greek klōn "a twig, spray," related to klados "sprout, young branch, offshoot of a plant," possibly from PIE root *kel- (1) "to strike, cut" (see holt). Meaning "person or animal replicated from a single cell of another and genetically identical to it" is by 1970 (theoretical). Figurative use, "one who slavishly imitates another," is by 1978.