MEMBER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does member mean? 

• MEMBER (noun)
  The noun MEMBER has 5 senses:

1. one of the persons who compose a social group (especially individuals who have joined and participate in a group organization)

2. anything that belongs to a set or class

3. an external body part that projects from the body

4. an organization that is a member of another organization (especially a state that belongs to a group of nations)

5. the male sex organ ('member' is a euphemism)

  Familiarity information: MEMBER used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MEMBER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

One of the persons who compose a social group (especially individuals who have joined and participate in a group organization)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

fellow member; member

Context example:

she was introduced to all the members of his family

Hypernyms ("member" is a kind of...):

associate (a person who joins with others in some activity or endeavor)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "member"):

joiner (a person who likes to join groups)

kibbutznik (a member of a kibbutz)

kolkhoznik (a member of a kolkhoz)

board member (a member of a governing board)

clan member; clansman; clanswoman (a member of a clan)

club member (someone who is a member of a club)

pledge (someone accepted for membership but not yet fully admitted to the group)

Rosicrucian (a member of a secret 17th-century society of philosophers and scholars versed in mystical and metaphysical and alchemical lore)

Rosicrucian (a member of any of various organizations that subsequently derived from the 17th-century society)

Rotarian (a member of a Rotary Club)

sister (a female person who is a fellow member of a sorority or labor union or other group)

sodalist (a member of a sodality)

tribesman (someone who lives in a tribe)

inductee (a person inducted into an organization or social group)

huddler (a member of a huddle)

homegirl (a fellow female member of a youth gang)

homeboy (a fellow male member of a youth gang)

fellow (a member of a learned society)

Conservative (a member of a Conservative Party)

council member; councillor (a member of a council)

committee member (a member of a committee)

commissioner (a member of a commission)

charter member (one of the original members when an organization was founded)

cabalist (a member of a cabal)

brother (a male person who is a fellow member (of a fraternity or religion or other group))

Areopagite (a member of the council of the Areopagus)

Antonym:

nonmember (a person who is not a member)

Derivation:

membership (the body of members of an organization or group)

membership (the state of being a member)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Anything that belongs to a set or class

Classified under:

Nouns denoting relations between people or things or ideas

Context example:

members of the opposite sex

Hypernyms ("member" is a kind of...):

component; component part; constituent; part; portion (something determined in relation to something that includes it)

Derivation:

membership (the body of members of an organization or group)

membership (the state of being a member)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An external body part that projects from the body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

appendage; extremity; member

Context example:

it is important to keep the extremities warm

Hypernyms ("member" is a kind of...):

external body part (any body part visible externally)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "member"):

mouthpart (any part of the mouth of an insect or other arthropod especially one adapted to a specific way of feeding)

fang (an appendage of insects that is capable of injecting venom; usually evolved from the legs)

chela; claw; nipper; pincer (a grasping structure on the limb of a crustacean or other arthropods)

parapodium (one of a pair of fleshy appendages of a polychete annelid that functions in locomotion and breathing)

fin (organ of locomotion and balance in fishes and some other aquatic animals)

pleopod; swimmeret (one of the paired abdominal appendages of certain aquatic crustaceans that function primarily for carrying the eggs in females and are usually adapted for swimming)

limb (one of the jointed appendages of an animal used for locomotion or grasping: arm; leg; wing; flipper)

dactyl; digit (a finger or toe in human beings or corresponding body part in other vertebrates)

chelicera (either of the first pair of fang-like appendages near the mouth of an arachnid; often modified for grasping and piercing)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An organization that is a member of another organization (especially a state that belongs to a group of nations)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Context example:

Canada is a member of the United Nations

Hypernyms ("member" is a kind of...):

social unit; unit (an organization regarded as part of a larger social group)

Derivation:

membership (the state of being a member)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The male sex organ ('member' is a euphemism)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

member; penis; phallus

Hypernyms ("member" is a kind of...):

erectile organ (an organ containing erectile tissue)

Meronyms (parts of "member"):

vena bulbi penis (vein of the head of the penis; tributary of the internal pudendal vein that drains the perineum)

urethra (duct through which urine is discharged in most mammals and which serves as the male genital duct)

foreskin; prepuce (a fold of skin covering the tip of the penis)

glans penis (the conical mass of erectile tissue that forms the head of the penis)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "member"):

cock; dick; pecker; prick; putz; shaft; tool (obscene terms for penis)

micropenis; microphallus (an abnormally small penis)

Holonyms ("member" is a part of...):

family jewels; male genital organ; male genitalia; male genitals (external male sex organs)

male reproductive system (the reproductive system of males)

 Context examples 

White Fang allowed all the members of the family to pet him and make much of him; but he never gave to them what he gave to the master.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The membrane may even be present in previously discovered members of the scansoriopterygids, though at present it is believed the other members had more bird-like wings.

(Second Bat-Like Dinosaur Discovered in China, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

“I have a presentiment,” said Mrs. Micawber, setting down her tin pot, “that it is a member of my family!”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Normal members of the gut microbiome, including Bifidobacterium, seem to help in this task.

(Gut Bacteria from Breastfeeding Linked to Improved Infant Response to Vaccines, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

“I perceive that you are not yourself a member of the family.”

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

AF4/FMR2 family member 1 (1210 aa, ~131 kDa) is encoded by the human AFF1 gene.

(AF4/FMR2 Family Member 1, NCI Thesaurus)

"Because it takes a gentleman to do it," added the other member of the domestic admiration society.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

As community members change, so do the products individual species depend on and share.

(Colorful bird feathers offer evolutionary clues, National Science Foundation)

Different members of this gene family may produce different actin cytoskeletal architectures.

(Actin Branching Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Speaking of family members, your sister or brother may figure much more prominently in your life than usual this month, and that will be true throughout 2020.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)