club [ME] In the sense ‘a heavy stick with a thick end’ club comes from Old Norse clubba, and is related to clump [ME]. Club for something used in a sport is Late Middle English, and the card suit mid 16th century. The use of the word to refer to a society or association of people who share a particular interest dates from the mid 17th century. The development is not clear, whether it is from a sense of clumping together, also mid 17th century, or of clubbing together to share costs, from the same date.