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:
The group offers membership to anyone for free.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026
“Since 2016, we’ve recruited 20,000 people that have applied for membership in the party,” Sims told me, though the party has long suffered from overstatement when it comes to self-reported membership numbers.
From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026
The moves mark an expansion of Costco’s fast-delivery network, as the membership warehouse retailer ramps up its e-commerce offerings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
There are two membership tiers, £5 per week for 6 items or £7.50 per week for 10 items, which includes access to chilled and cupboard food, toiletries, and household items.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
What happens between initiation and membership that transforms panic into delight?
From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth
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Netflix reported 89.6 million memberships in the U.S. and Canada at the end of 2024, the last time it broke out regional numbers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Gross margins on memberships were 89% in the nine months ended June 30, the company said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Next week’s Don’t Short Yourself is about how shoppers can negotiate the price of almost anything: furniture, gym memberships, even college tuition.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Many discounts involve pairing up - 2-for-1 cinema tickets, Two-Together railcards, couples gym memberships - plus solo travellers often pay a single person supplement.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 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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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.