membership
Americannoun
-
memberships
plural
-
the state of being a member, as of a society or club.
-
the status of a member.
-
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:
“To the extent we have seen evidence, it’s quite subdued,” he said at the Institute of International Finance’s annual membership meeting in Bangkok.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
We don’t have a boat or a club membership, and a big night out is the Italian place three miles from home.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
Luke acknowledges his gym "wasn't built for students" and "not cheap", with typical membership options starting from £65 a month.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
After his breakout marathon, though, he received a perk that’s less valuable but might be even more useful: a free one-year membership to Planet Fitness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2026
And the middle-aged membership of a women’s bridge club arrived en masse.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
That finding suggests spouses may not need costly gym memberships or elaborate home workout equipment to experience the potential relationship benefits of being active together.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
He said: "With all three unions now engaging with their memberships, we are moving closer to the outcome we have always wanted to achieve: ending pay discrimination in Glasgow City Council once and for all."
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
Depending on your situation, this could mean canceling high-priced memberships or unnecessary subscriptions — or making bigger moves, like selling a second car or downsizing your home.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
The golf course was built in the mid-1920s by Woodland Hills developer Victor Giraud, who gave away free club memberships to people buying lots in his housing tract.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
About three hundred families have already bought memberships, which now cost $300,000.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
