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.
Challenged about Nato membership in the Senedd last week, the first minister said neither he nor Plaid Cymru "has ever advocated or suggested that the UK should pull out of Nato".
From BBC • Jun. 30, 2026
Notably, Park did publicly seek the endorsement of the WFP, and while membership voted overwhelmingly to support him, the endorsement was not approved by party leadership.
From Salon • Jun. 26, 2026
The United Church of Christ has gone from roughly 8,000 churches and 2.25 million members in 1960 to 4,485 churches and 683,936 members—a 70% membership decline.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 25, 2026
Oscar nominees are automatically considered for membership in the year they are nominated, while branch executive committees review additional candidates before recommendations are approved by the academy’s Board of Governors.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 24, 2026
She didn’t tell the membership the details of the plan, but she did promise it would be a “red-hot, never-ceasing campaign.”
From "Votes for Women!" by Winifred Conkling
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.
