belong

 
Pronunciation: /bɪˈlɒŋ/

verb

[no object]
  • 1 (belong to) be the property of: the vehicle did not belong to him
  • be due to: most of the credit belongs to Paul
  • (of a contest or period of time) be dominated by: the race belonged completely to Fogarty
  • 2 (belong to) be a member of (a particular group or organization): he belonged to the local cricket club
  • [usually with adverbial of place] (of a person) have an affinity for a specified place or situation: she is a stranger, and doesn’t belong here you and me, we belong together (as noun belonging) we feel a real sense of belonging
  • have the right personal or social qualities to be a member of a particular group: young people are generally very anxious to belong
  • 3 [with adverbial of place] (of a thing) be rightly placed in a specified position: he put the rifle back in the locker where it belonged such statements do not belong in a modern student textbook
  • be rightly assigned to a specified category: these compounds belong to a class of chemical mediators called kairomones

Derivatives

belongingness

noun

Origin:

Middle English: from be- (as an intensifier) + the archaic verb long 'belong', based on Old English gelang 'at hand, together with'