In which one of the following Vedas does the term 'Gotra' appear for the first time as representing a clan?
Atharvaveda
In the Rigveda, the word 'Gotra' occurs but in its literal sense of a cow-pen or cattle enclosure, not as a term for lineage or clan.
The Samaveda is largely a liturgical collection of chants derived from Rigvedic verses and does not introduce the clan sense of the word, and the Yajurveda is chiefly concerned with sacrificial formulae.
It is in the Atharvaveda that 'Gotra' is first used in the extended sense of a group of people descended from a common ancestor, marking the shift towards its later meaning as a clan or lineage identifier.
Hence, the answer is the Atharvaveda.
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