n.
Pronunciation: ' mem-r ē , ' me-m ə -
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural -ries
Etymology: Middle English memorie, from Anglo-French memoire, memorie, from Latin memoria, from memor mindful; akin to Old English gemimor well-known, Greek merm ē ra care, Sanskrit smarati he remembers
Date: 14th century
1 a : the power or process of reproducing or recalling what has been learned and retained especially through associative mechanisms b : the store of things learned and retained from an organism's activity or experience as evidenced by modification of structure or behavior or by recall and recognition
2 a : commemorative remembrance <erected a statue in memory of the hero> b : the fact or condition of being remembered <days of recent memory >
3 a : a particular act of recall or recollection b : an image or impression of one that is remembered <fond memories of her youth> c : the time within which past events can be or are remembered <within the memory of living men>
4 a : a device (as a chip) or a component of a device in which information especially for a computer can be inserted and stored and from which it may be extracted when wanted especially : RAM b : capacity for storing information <512 megabytes of memory >
5 : a capacity for showing effects as the result of past treatment or for returning to a former condition ― used especially of a material (as metal or plastic)
synonyms MEMORY , REMEMBRANCE , RECOLLECTION , REMINISCENCE mean the capacity for or the act of remembering, or the thing remembered. MEMORY applies both to the power of remembering and to what is remembered <gifted with a remarkable memory > <that incident was now just a distant memory >. REMEMBRANCE applies to the act of remembering or the fact of being remembered <any remembrance of his deceased wife was painful>. RECOLLECTION adds an implication of consciously bringing back to mind often with some effort <after a moment's recollection he produced the name>. REMINISCENCE suggests the recalling of usually pleasant incidents, experiences, or feelings from a remote past <my grandmother's reminiscences of her Iowa girlhood>.