member

A2 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈmɛmbɚ/ UK /ˈmɛmbə/ See IPA manual

Freq #1736

Meanings

1

noun
A person who belongs to a group, club, or organization.

Only members are allowed to use the gym.
2

noun
A part of a larger whole.

The beams became the main structural members of the bridge.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who belongs to a... fellow member

Word family

Forms members

Derived forms assemblymemberbandmembercardmembercastmembercomembercouncilmembercross-membercrossmemberdismembere-memberend-memberendmember

Appears in

Phrases (4)

See all

charter member
one of the people who belonged to an organization when it began

Noun + noun
clan member
a person belonging to a group linked by family descent or kinship

Noun + noun
faculty member
a person employed to teach or research at a college or university

Noun + noun
upstanding member
a person belonging to a group who is regarded as honest and respectable

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Middle English membre, from Old French membre, from Latin membrum (“limb, body part”), from Proto-Italic *memzrom, from Proto-Indo-European *mḗms, *mēms-rom (“flesh”). Akin to Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌼𐌶 (mimz, “meat, flesh”), Crimean Gothic menus. Coexists with native limb, from Old English lim (“limb, joint, main branch”). Mostly displaced lith (“limb, joint, member”), from Old English liþ (“limb, member, join, tip”), which still survives in British dialect.

membre Middle English membrum Latin *memzrom Proto-Italic *mḗms Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# member

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈmɛmbɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈmɛmbə/
**Frequency rank:** 1736

## Meanings
1. A person who belongs to a group, club, or organization.
2. A part of a larger whole.

## Examples
- Only members are allowed to use the gym.
- The beams became the main structural members of the bridge.

## Derived Forms
- assemblymember
- bandmember
- cardmember
- castmember
- comember
- councilmember
- cross-member
- crossmember
- dismember
- e-member
- end-member
- endmember

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: membre
- Root: membrum
- Root: *memzrom
- Root: *mḗms

## Etymology
From Middle English membre, from Old French membre, from Latin membrum (“limb, body part”), from Proto-Italic *memzrom, from Proto-Indo-European *mḗms, *mēms-rom (“flesh”). Akin to Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌼𐌶 (mimz, “meat, flesh”), Crimean Gothic menus. Coexists with native limb, from Old English lim (“limb, joint, main branch”). Mostly displaced lith (“limb, joint, member”), from Old English liþ (“limb, member, join, tip”), which still survives in British dialect.

## AI Etymology
Member comes from Middle English membre, from Old French membre, from Latin membrum (“limb, body part”), from Proto-Italic *memzrom, from Proto-Indo-European *mḗms, *mēms-rom (“flesh”). Akin to Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐌼𐌶 (mimz, “meat, flesh”), Crimean Gothic menus. Coexists with native limb, from Old English lim (“limb, joint, main branch”). In present-day English its meanings include a person who belongs to a group, club, or organization and a part of a larger whole. The historical chain runs through membre (Middle English), membre (Old French), membrum (Latin), *memzrom (Proto-Italic), and *mḗms (Proto-Indo-European). Related and derived forms include assemblymember, bandmember, and cardmember.

## Topics
- People & Society

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