Etymologically
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membre

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 12:11. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mɑ̃bʁ/[1]

Forms

membre m (plural membres)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin membrum (“limb; part of a whole; clause”),[2][3][4][1][5] a word that in Latin named any part of the body, and so the parts of a whole and the individuals of a group, and that rendered the Greek term for the members of a period in rhetoric.[3] The TLFi, Rey and Wiktionary all classify the French word as a borrowing from Latin.[2][3][1]

Rey suggests that the Latin word, like Ancient Greek μῆνιγξ (mêninx, “membrane”) (see méninge), may be related to Indo-European words for “meat, flesh”, such as Irish mír (“piece of meat”).[3] Cognate with Old Occitan membre, Spanish miembro, Portuguese membro and Italian membro.[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has it for the parts of the body used to grasp and walk, the arms and legs: Puis en perdit et la vie et ses membres.[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

Old and Middle French sometimes used it more widely for the body as a whole; a trace of that is the sense “male genital organ” (plural about 1170, Marie de France; singular about 1225), later specified as membre viril (1598).[3][2]

From about 1200 it was applied by metaphor to a person belonging to a group, first to the mystical body of the Church, then to a guild (1432) and a community (about 1570), and today to an association: membre actif, membre honoraire (1903).[3][2] The idea “part of a whole” also gave technical senses: part of a fief (1240–80), a clause of a sentence (about 1250), a part of a building (1479), a ship's timber (1541) and each side of an equation (1691).[3][2] État membre is recorded in 1938, at the League of Nations.[2][3]

Timeline

  • c. 1100 – “Limb”, Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • c. 1170 – Membres “male genitals”, Marie de France.[2]
  • c. 1200 – A member of the Church.[2]
  • c. 1250 – A clause of a sentence.[2]
  • 1432 – A member of a guild, in Liège.[2]
  • 1691 – Each side of an equation, Ozanam.[2]
  • 1938 – États membres.[2]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A limb: each of the four parts attached to the trunk, membres supérieurs, inférieurs, arms, legs, trembler de tous ses membres.[8][1]
  2. Membre viril, or simply membre: the penis.[2][1]
  3. A member of a group, society or organization, membre fondateur, founding member; in apposition, État membre, pays membre.[1][8]
  4. A part of a whole: membre de phrase, a clause, (mathematics) each side of an equation.[2][9]
  5. (architecture, shipbuilding) A structural part; a rib of a ship's frame.[2][9]

Word family

  • membré
  • membru
  • membrure
  • démembrer
  • démembrement

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 6/1, 689b
  6. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse