membership
Americannoun
-
memberships
plural
-
the state of being a member, as of a society or club.
-
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.
See Examples For:
The two movements overlap heavily in membership and ideas, sharing an emphasis on reasoning through evidence and probabilities, and a conviction that preventing human extinction should be a top priority.
From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026
Events manager Cordelia Sheridan, 27, who exercises four to five times a week at her gym in Battersea, says she treats her £45 gym membership "like an essential utility bill".
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
They were also focused on membership renewal rates.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
According to Southern Section’s Blue Book rule 500.5, “Any school knowingly or unknowingly violating the rule may be suspended from membership in the CIF Southern Section.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
Although membership was voluntary, not every child could join the Hitler Youth.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
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Gross margins on memberships were 89% in the nine months ended June 30, the company said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Medicare Advantage’s benefits can include no monthly premiums, out-of-pocket maximums, dental and vision coverage and gym memberships.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 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
Costco is gearing up to enter a huge new business as it tries to enhance the allure of its memberships: Medicare.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 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.