member

/ˈmɛmbə/

//ˈmɛmbə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"member" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“member” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #677 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#677
frequency rank, English
6
letters
9
tracked misspellings
14
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - One who belongs to a group.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

member vs meme
67% similar
member vs meter
67% similar
member vs Meyer
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for member
PropertyValue
Headwordmember
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɛmbə/
Letters6
Frequency rank#677
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs14
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “member” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). member lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for member is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmɛmbə/. Corpus data places it at rank #677 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for member, with forms such as "emmber", "mebmer", and "membber". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 14 confusable-pair relationships, "meme", "meter", "Meyer", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 n… The correct English form is member, spelled M-E-M-B-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    One who belongs to a group.
  2. 2
    A part of a whole.
  3. 3
    Part of an animal capable of performing a distinct office; an organ; a limb.
  4. 4
    The penis.
  5. 5
    One of the propositions making up a syllogism.
  6. 6
    An element of a set.
  7. 7
    the judge or adjudicator in a consumer court.
  8. 8
    A part of a discourse or of a period, sentence, or verse; a clause.
  9. 9
    Either of the two parts of an algebraic equation, connected by the equality sign.
  10. 10
    A file stored within an archive file.
  11. 11
    A function or piece of data associated with each separate instance of a class.

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.

This word in other languages

miembro(Español)membre(Français)Mitglied(Deutsch)sócio(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: emmber,mebmer,membber,memberr,membre,memebr,memmber,mmeber,mmember

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of member - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

emmber2mebmer2membber1memberr1membre2memebr2memmber1mmeber2
Edit distance from "member"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "member"?
"member" is spelled M-E-M-B-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɛmbə/.
What does "member" mean?
As a noun, "member" means: One who belongs to a group.
What words are commonly confused with "member"?
"member" is commonly confused with "meme", "meter", "Meyer". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "member"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "member" is /ˈmɛmbə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "member"?
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. Coexi... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “member”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is M-E-M-B-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈmɛmbə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “meme” - see the side-by-side comparison. member vs meme
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list