membership
Americannoun
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the state of being a member, as of a society or club.
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the status of a member.
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the total number of members belonging to an organization, society, etc.
noun
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the members of an organization collectively
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the state of being a member
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of membership
Explanation
Use the noun membership to describe the people who together make up a group or organization. Your secret childhood club may have had a membership consisting only of you, your brother, and your best friend. Any official group has a membership, the people who belong to it. Your high school French club has a membership, and so does the United States Congress. You can also use the word to mean "the fact of being a member," like when you brag about your membership in Mensa, the organization for people with extremely high intelligence. The root of membership is the Latin word for body part or limb, membrum.
Vocabulary lists containing membership
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ship
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"The MGMT Solution," Vocabulary from Chapter 10
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-ship
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Chadian foreign minister's official Facebook page posted a statement last week saying the US had pressed the government in Niamey to reconsider its ICC membership.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Two said they had worked in return for free membership - while the third said they had worked voluntarily.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
There is no membership roll, no command hierarchy and no funding structure.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
Premium revenue declined 6% year-over-year reflecting the impact of lower membership, partially offset by rate updates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
There is some likelihood that Lawrence had heard about it too, in which case he would have known that Frank Oppenheimer s repeated denials of party membership were false.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
They cancelled gym memberships and Sky TV and went through their finances to make sure they could cover their mortgage and bills on a lower income.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Quintessentially, a global concierge firm whose U.S. memberships begin at $25,000 a year, has handled preschool applications, pet procurement and six-month family sabbaticals with traveling tutors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
Whoop, which provides its wristband as part of memberships starting at $199 a year, represents 1.9%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Many Advantage plans bundle Part A hospital coverage, Part B outpatient coverage, and Part D drug coverage—plus extras like gym memberships and dental care—for no additional premium.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
As I sat there one of them was inflating my faked memberships into meanings of national significance.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
