memoir
/ˈmɛmwɑː
/noun
1A historical account or biography written from personal knowledge: in 1924 she published a short memoir of her husband...
- Tolstoy set out to write a personal memoir of O'Brian, but it turned into a full biography.
- Someone who writes a literary memoir, for example, is by necessity examining issues of self and identity.
- I've visited the U.K. more than a few times, and read many British novels, memoirs, biographies, histories and news articles.
Synonyms
account, historical account, history, record, chronicle, annal(s), commentary, narrative, story, report, portrayal, depiction, sketch, portrait, life, life story, profile, biography
autobiography, life story, life, memories, recollections, personal recollections, reminiscences, experiences, journal, diary, log, weblog, blog, vlog, moblog
1.1 (memoirs) An account written by a public figure of their life and experiences: a revealing passage from Khrushchev’s memoirs...
- The memoirs of public figures are almost always interesting.
- As a rule, memoirs written by political figures do not remain memorable since the details supplied in them must have been widely publicised by the media long before they got into the book.
- So when such a towering figure has his memoirs published, it is a landmark event.
2An essay on a learned subject: an important memoir on Carboniferous crustacea...
- In 1943 Douglas was awarded the Bôcher Prize by the American Mathematical Society for his memoirs on the Plateau Problem.
2.1 (memoirs) The proceedings of a learned society: Memoirs of the Royal Society...
- Memoirs and Proceedings, Chemical Society, London Volumes 2 and 3 were published between 1843 - 1848.
Derivatives
memoirist
/ noun ...- I told her no; gave her the names of a few funny memoirists who have chronicled their experiences dealing with weight issues in the ‘dating game,’ and sent her on her way.
- This, perhaps the greatest period of an already great life, has been sensitively written about by memoirists and historians.
- Tobias Wolff is a short story writer, a memoirist, a novelist, a father, a husband, a jazz aficionado, a hiker upon remote mountain trails, a winner of literary awards, a neophyte pianist, and the mentor of many young writers.
Origin
Late 15th century (denoting a memorandum or record): from French mémoire (masculine), a special use of mémoire (feminine) 'memory'.
- forwarding address
- forwarding agent
- forwarding instruction
- forward integration
- forward-looking
- forwardly
- forward mutation
- forwardness
- forward of
- forward pass
- forward passer
- forward passing
- forward planning
- forward pocket
- forward roll
- forward scattering
- forward slash
- forward-thinking
- forwent
- for what it is worth
- for why
- for your (or his, her, etc.) eyes only
- FOS
- Fosbury, Richard
- fosette