What does member mean?
A member is a person who belongs to a group, organization, society, or other collective body. Membership may arise through joining a club, working for an institution, serving on a committee, or possessing a recognized status, and the word applies to both formal and informal affiliations. It is also used more broadly for a part of a larger whole, such as a member of a family, a legal agreement, or a mathematical set. In contemporary usage, the organizational sense is dominant, with “member of parliament” and “board member” among its most established combinations. The word carries little inherent emotional connotation: it simply identifies affiliation or participation, although context determines whether that affiliation is prestigious, compulsory, voluntary, or exclusive. Its original bodily sense, referring to a limb, survives mainly in formal and older expressions such as “a member of the human body.”
nounA person who belongs to a group, organization, society, or other collective body. In some contexts, it also means a part or component of a larger whole.
- A person who belongs to a group, organization, or other collective body.
- A person who has joined a society, club, political party, or other association.
- One of the people represented by a legislature or governing body.
- A part or component of a larger whole.
- An element or member of a mathematical set.
"Every member of the committee must review the proposal before Friday."
"The organization welcomes members from every part of the country."
"Each member of the family has a different account of what happened."
The regular plural is used for people belonging to a group and for constituent parts of a larger whole.
"The members voted unanimously to accept the proposal."
The word member began with the human body: its oldest sense referred to a limb or part, before extending to anyone who forms part of a community.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does member come from?
The word comes through Old French membre from Latin membrum, meaning “limb” or “part.” Latin also used the word in the sense of a part of a community, which developed into the modern political and organizational meanings. English initially retained the bodily sense before extending the word to people belonging to a group.
Related word forms
How member is actually used
The word is neutral and widely used in British and American English. In an institutional context, it commonly identifies a person formally enrolled in an organization, while “member” can also mean a more informal participant in a community or group.
Easily confused with member
A member is someone who belongs to a group, whereas to remember means to retain something in the mind.