member

member · noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*mḗms, *mēms-rom“flesh”
2. Proto-Italic · derived from*memzrom
3. Latin · derived frommembrum“limb, body part”
4. Old French · derived frommembre
5. Middle English · derived frommembre
6. English todaymember

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.

member · verb²

Clipping of remember (by apheresis).

Words from the same roots