member

American  

[mem-ber] / ˈmɛm bər /

noun

1. a person, animal, plant, group, etc., that is part of a society, party, community, taxon, or other body.

2. Government.

   1. a member of Congress, especially of the House of Representatives.

   2. a member of the British Parliament, especially of the House of Commons.

   3. any member of a legislative body.

3. a part or organ of an animal body; a limb, as a leg, arm, or wing.

4. Botany. a structural entity of a plant body.

5. the penis.

6. a constituent part of any structural or composite whole, as a subordinate architectural feature of a building.

   Synonyms:

   portion, element

7. Mathematics.

   1. either side of an equation.

   2. an element of a set.

8. Geology. a stratigraphic unit recognized within a formation, and mapped as such.

---

adjective

1. being a member of or having membership in an association, organization, etc..

   member countries of the United Nations.

Member ¹ British  

/ ˈmɛmbə /

noun

1. short for Member of Parliament

2. short for Member of Congress

3. a member of some other legislative body

---

member ² British  

/ ˈmɛmbə /

noun

1. a person who belongs to a club, political party, etc

2. any individual plant or animal in a taxonomic group

   a member of the species

3. any part of an animal body, such as a limb

4. another word for penis

5. any part of a plant, such as a petal, root, etc

6. maths any individual object belonging to a set or logical class

7. a distinct part of a whole, such as a proposition in a syllogism

8. a component part of a building or construction

---

member Scientific  

/ mĕm′bər /

1. A quantity that belongs to a set.

2. The expression on either side of an equal sign.

---

Other Word Forms

• memberless adjective
• submember noun

Etymology

Origin of member

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English membre, from Old French, from Latin membrum

Example Sentences

Fans are feeling frisky about a plan to transform the building into a bar, campaigning against the idea in letters to city board members and online.

From The Wall Street Journal

Framework Convention on Climate Change, a treaty aimed at stabilizing greenhouse-gas concentrations and requiring member states to submit annual inventories of their emissions.

From The Wall Street Journal

The baskets at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and the Santa Ynez Chumash Museum and Cultural Center belong to family members who were willing to loan them out for display.

From Los Angeles Times

JOP spends most of his time throughout the day being filmed by a member of his team.

From Los Angeles Times

Unsanctioned congregations, some with hundreds of members, operate outside of the official state-run churches.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• male sex organ
• penis