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• member
  member

  noun

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

  noun

  short for Member of Parliament

member

American  

[mem-ber] / ˈmɛm bər /

noun

• members
  plural

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.

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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

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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

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member Scientific  

/ mĕm′bər /

1. A quantity that belongs to a set.

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• submember
  noun
• memberless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• members
  plural

Etymology

Origin of member

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

Explanation

If you're a member, you belong to a group or club. The late comedian Groucho Marx famously said, "I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member." Go figure. When an object, like a plant or an element, is a member, it's also part of a group or class. A tiger, for example, is a member of the genus called Panthera, and it's also a member of the cat family. You're a member of the human species, and if you swim competitively, you're also a member of a swim team. The United States is a member, along with 192 other countries, of the United Nations. The Latin root of member is membrum, "part," and also "limb or part of the body."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

member Member members

It follows a legal challenge brought by a member of the Orange Order over its annual parade at Drumcree outside Portadown.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

Norman, a veteran conservative and member of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, supports much of Trump's agenda but has occasionally defied Republican leaders and backed Nikki Haley rather than Trump in the 2024 presidential primary.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

Perhaps his most viral moment came this summer, when he found himself the only member of the Royal Box to stick around for the start of a late match.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

“Ryan dedicated his life to service, proudly carrying on his family’s legacy as a third-generation member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,” Luna said in a statement Monday.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

Questions helped me to do an even better job and become an even more highly valued member of the team.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

“This legislation will not retire with me. Plans are already under way to ensure another Member carries this effort forward,” she said in a statement.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026

Westminster Magistrates' Court heard how Wilby spoke to Creasy about knife crime and her "failings as a Member of Parliament" before filming her, leading to members of the public intervening.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

Member nations of the ICC voted to remove Khan, 82 to 13 with 15 abstentions, officials familiar with the matter said, in a tense session at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

Member Brian Lee also voted no, saying: "I think this endorsement can be potentially harmful, and I cannot in good conscience vote yes."

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

Member of this and that Leading businessman and farmer.

From "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker

As the big day approached, Aschenbrenner’s friends, former colleagues and fellow members of the Silicon Valley intelligentsia filtered into the wedding hotel.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Games that will indulge your ’90s nostalgia: In honor of Party Like It’s 1996, we’ve rolled out ’90s-themed editions of all of our games for Slate Plus members.

From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026

Nigeria is its main recruitment ground and many of its members are university educated and inducted during their schooling.

From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026

The January agreement, under which Kurdish fighters would be integrated into state structures, stipulates that the SDF commit to expelling all non-Syrian PKK leaders and members from the country.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

Corps members have the immediate task of distributing them.

From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly

Related Words

• male sex organ
• penis