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.
Neither side pays anything for their accommodation, although they do pay an annual membership fee to Home Link, the listings site they use to book the trips.
From BBC • Jul. 9, 2026
Price Club was one of the original membership warehouse concepts founded by retail legend Sol Price.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 8, 2026
But the DSA’s total official membership remains at around 100,000: formidable, but a minuscule percentage of the population compared to the two major parties.
From Salon • Jul. 8, 2026
“Condominiums remain an important pathway to homeownership, but buyers should look beyond the purchase price,” said Dawn Bauman, CEO of the Community Associations Institute, a membership organization for community associations.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 7, 2026
“So I hear you’re thinking of applying for membership at our club?”
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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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.