memory
/ˈmɛm(ə)ri
/- No problem there, I have a terrible memory for names so didn't even remember them five seconds after leaving the room.
- She still has a great memory for all the old Irish songs and poems.
- All creatures do need a memory for basic functioning and survival.
- Whenever anyone glanced at him he searched his memory frantically to see if he recognised them.
- He searched his memory and suddenly remembered a Sunday evening when he and Cam were seniors at Sacred Heart High School.
- Williams searched his memory, trying to remember what he did in this situation eleven years ago.
Synonyms
- I have no recollection of my past memories, except periodic flashbacks of my previous life.
- What happened during that week was just a bad memory in the past.
- Imagine groggily waking up in a strange house, surrounded by unfamiliar faces, with not a single memory of the past ten hours.
Synonyms
- A candlelit vigil took place in Huyton last night, one week after the alleged assault, to honour the dead teenager's memory.
- The memory of the dead is respected, by visitor and host alike.
- I've instructed all agencies to honor their memory by treating the dead with the dignity and respect they deserve.
Synonyms
- After one of the most hectic holiday seasons in recent memory, many of us have settled in for equally hectic work schedules.
- So here it is: the opening salvo in what looks to be the worst summer-movie season in recent memory.
- But, even in adults, memory for recent events is transient unless it is refreshed by rehearsal.
- When the light pulse stops, its information is suspended and stored, just as information is stored in the memory of a computer.
- A reconnaissance satellite, placed into orbit years ago, captures the entire scene in its computer memory.
Synonyms
- There is a virtual hard drive available in the Internet with plenty of memory to store personal information.
- The latest MP3 technology compresses all superfluous parts of a sound signal to reduce the amount of memory needed to store digital information.
- Depending on the level, you will have different amounts of system memory in which to store your subroutines.
Phrases
from memory
in memory of
take a trip (or walk) down memory lane
Origin
Middle English: from Old French memorie, from Latin memoria, from memor 'mindful, remembering'.
English adopted the Latin word memoria twice, first directly from Latin in the Middle Ages as memory, then in the 15th century through French as memoir. The earliest sense of memoir was ‘a memorandum’; people's memoirs, either recording historical events or recounting their own lives, appeared in the 17th century. Latin memoria is formed from memor ‘mindful’, from which memorable (Late Middle English); remember (Middle English); remind (mid 17th century); reminisce (early 19th century); and commemoration (Late Middle English) also come. A 1903 song introduced the world to memory lane, while another song took the same title in 1924. In both lyrics people ‘wandered’, whereas nowadays we take a trip down memory lane when we indulge in pleasant or sentimental memories. In medieval times and later, merchants, lawyers, and diplomats would write memorandum that… at the head of a note of something to be remembered or a record of what had been done. In Latin memorandum means ‘it is to be remembered’, and is a form of memorare, ‘to bring to mind’. Memento (Late Middle English) is also pure Latin. It was at first a prayer of commemoration and is an order to ‘remember!’.