Adjacent Words

Memory definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MEM'ORY, n. [L. memoria; Gr. to remember, from mind, or the same root. See Mind.]
1. The faculty of the mind by which it retains the knowledge of past events, or ideas which are past. A distinction is made between memory and recollection. Memory retains past ideas without any, or with little effort; recollection implies an effort to recall ideas that are past.
Memory is the purveyor of reason.
2. A retaining of past ideas in the mind; remembrance. Events that excite little attention are apt to escape from memory.
3. Exemption from oblivion.
That ever-living man of memory,
Henry the fifth.
4. The time within which past events can be remembered or recollected, or the time within which a person may have knowledge of what is past. The revolution in England was before my memory; the revolution in America was within the author's memory.
5. Memorial; monumental record; that which calls to remembrance. A monument in London was erected in memory of the conflagration in 1666.
6. Reflection; attention.
MEM'ORY, v.t. To lay up in the mind or memory. [Not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: something that is remembered; "search as he would, the memory was lost"
2: the cognitive processes whereby past experience is remembered; "he can do it from memory"; "he enjoyed remembering his father" [syn: memory, remembering]
3: the power of retaining and recalling past experience; "he had a good memory when he was younger" [syn: memory, retention, retentiveness, retentivity]
4: an electronic memory device; "a memory and the CPU form the central part of a computer to which peripherals are attached" [syn: memory, computer memory, storage, computer storage, store, memory board]
5: the area of cognitive psychology that studies memory processes; "he taught a graduate course on learning and memory"

Merriam Webster's

noun (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?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>.

Britannica Concise

In digital computers, a physical device used to store such information as data or programs on a temporary or permanent basis. Most digital computer systems have two types of memory, the main memory and one or more auxiliary storage units. In most cases, the main memory is a high-speed RAM. Auxiliary storage units include hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape drives. Besides main and auxiliary memories, other forms of memory include ROM and optical storage media such as videodiscs and compact discs (see CD-ROM). Power or process of recalling or reproducing what has been learned or experienced. Research indicates that the ability to retain information is fairly uniform among normal individuals; what differs is the degree to which persons learn or take account of something to begin with and the kind and amount of detail that is retained. Attention, motivation, and especially association facilitate this process. Visual images are generally better remembered than are other forms of sense-data. Memory prodigies, or people with "photographic" or "eidetic" memories, often draw heavily on visual associations, incl. mnemonics. Many psychologists distinguish between short- and long-term memory. The former (variously said to last ten seconds to three minutes) is less subject to interference and distortion than the latter. Long-term memory is sometimes divided into episodic (i.e., event-centered) and semantic (i.e., knowledge-centered) memory. Various models of memory have been proposed, from the Enlightenment notion of impressions made on brain tissues (restyled as "memory molecules" or coded "engrams" in the 20th cent.) to B. F. Skinner's "black box" to more recent ideas concerning information processing or the formation of neuronal groups. Disorders of or involving memory include Alzheimer's disease, amnesia, Korsakoff's syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, and senile dementia. See also hypnosis. In digital computers, a physical device used to store such information as data or programs on a temporary or permanent basis. Most digital computer systems have two types of memory, the main memory and one or more auxiliary storage units. In most cases, the main memory is a high-speed RAM. Auxiliary storage units include hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape drives. Besides main and auxiliary memories, other forms of memory include ROM and optical storage media such as videodiscs and compact discs (see CD-ROM). Power or process of recalling or reproducing what has been learned or experienced. Research indicates that the ability to retain information is fairly uniform among normal individuals; what differs is the degree to which persons learn or take account of something to begin with and the kind and amount of detail that is retained. Attention, motivation, and especially association facilitate this process. Visual images are generally better remembered than are other forms of sense-data. Memory prodigies, or people with "photographic" or "eidetic" memories, often draw heavily on visual associations, incl. mnemonics. Many psychologists distinguish between short- and long-term memory. The former (variously said to last ten seconds to three minutes) is less subject to interference and distortion than the latter. Long-term memory is sometimes divided into episodic (i.e., event-centered) and semantic (i.e., knowledge-centered) memory. Various models of memory have been proposed, from the Enlightenment notion of impressions made on brain tissues (restyled as "memory molecules" or coded "engrams" in the 20th cent.) to B. F. Skinner's "black box" to more recent ideas concerning information processing or the formation of neuronal groups. Disorders of or involving memory include Alzheimer's disease, amnesia, Korsakoff's syndrome, post-traumatic stress disorder, and senile dementia. See also hypnosis.City (pop., 1996 est.: 597,000), SW Tennessee. Situated above the Mississippi River w

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 the faculty by which things are recalled to or kept in the mind. 2 a this faculty in an individual (my memory is beginning to fail). b one's store of things remembered (buried deep in my memory). 3 a recollection or remembrance (the memory of better times). 4 the storage capacity of a computer or other electronic machinery. 5 the remembrance of a person or thing (his mother's memory haunted him). 6 a the reputation of a dead person (his memory lives on). b in formulaic phrases used of a dead sovereign etc. (of blessed memory). 7 the length of time over which the memory or memories of any given person or group extends (within living memory; within the memory of anyone still working here). 8 the act of remembering (a deed worthy of memory). Phrases and idioms: commit to memory learn (a thing) so as to be able to recall it. from memory without verification in books etc. in memory of to keep alive the remembrance of. memory bank (or board) the memory device of a computer etc. memory lane (usu. prec. by down, along) an imaginary and sentimental journey into the past. memory mapping Computing the allocation of peripheral devices to appear located within the main memory of a computer. Etymology: ME f. OF memorie, memoire f. L memoria f. memor mindful, remembering, rel. to MOURN

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Memory Mem"o*ry, n.; pl. Memories. [OE. memorie, OF. memoire, memorie, F. m['e]moire, L. memoria, fr. memor mindful; cf. mora delay. Cf. Demur, Martyr, Memoir, Remember.] 1. The faculty of the mind by which it retains the knowledge of previous thoughts, impressions, or events. Memory is the purveyor of reason. --Rambler. 2. The reach and positiveness with which a person can remember; the strength and trustworthiness of one's power to reach and represent or to recall the past; as, his memory was never wrong. 3. The actual and distinct retention and recognition of past ideas in the mind; remembrance; as, in memory of youth; memories of foreign lands. 4. The time within which past events can be or are remembered; as, within the memory of man. And what, before thy memory, was done From the begining. --Milton. 5. Something, or an aggregate of things, remembered; hence, character, conduct, etc., as preserved in remembrance, history, or tradition; posthumous fame; as, the war became only a memory. The memory of the just is blessed. --Prov. x. 7. That ever-living man of memory, Henry the Fifth. --Shak. The Nonconformists . . . have, as a body, always venerated her [Elizabeth's] memory. --Macaulay. 6. A memorial. [Obs.] These weeds are memories of those worser hours. --Shak. Syn: Memory, Remembrance, Recollection, Reminiscence. Usage: Memory is the generic term, denoting the power by which we reproduce past impressions. Remembrance is an exercise of that power when things occur spontaneously to our thoughts. In recollection we make a distinct effort to collect again, or call back, what we know has been formerly in the mind. Reminiscence is intermediate between remembrance and recollection, being a conscious process of recalling past occurrences, but without that full and varied reference to particular things which characterizes recollection. ``When an idea again recurs without the operation of the like object on the external sensory, it is remembrance; if it be sought after by the mind, and with pain and endeavor found, and brought again into view, it is recollection.'' --Locke. To draw to memory, to put on record; to record. [Obs.] --Chaucer. Gower.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(memories) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. Your memory is your ability to remember things. All the details of the meeting are fresh in my memory... He'd a good memory for faces, and he was sure he hadn't seen her before... But locals with long memories thought this was fair revenge for the injustice of 1961... N-VAR: oft poss N 2. A memory is something that you remember from the past. She cannot bear to watch the film because of the bad memories it brings back... Her earliest memory is of singing at the age of four to wounded soldiers... He had happy memories of his father. N-COUNT: usu with supp, oft N of n 3. A computer's memory is the part of the computer where information is stored, especially for a short time before it is transferred to disks or magnetic tapes. (COMPUTING) The data are stored in the computer's memory. N-COUNT 4. If you talk about the memory of someone who has died, especially someone who was loved or respected, you are referring to the thoughts, actions, and ceremonies by which they are remembered. She remained devoted to his memory... The congress opened with a minute's silence in memory of those who died in the struggle. N-SING: usu with poss, also in N of n 5. If you do something from memory, for example speak the words of a poem or play a piece of music, you do it without looking at it, because you know it very well. Many members of the church sang from memory... PHRASE: PHR after v 6. If you say that something is, for example, the best, worst, or first thing of its kind in living memory, you are emphasizing that it is the only thing of that kind that people can remember. The floods are the worst in living memory... PHRASE: n/adj PHR, usu with adj-superl/brd-neg [emphasis] 7. If you lose your memory, you forget things that you used to know. His illness caused him to lose his memory. PHRASE: V inflects 8. to commit something to memory: see commit

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Recollection, remembrance, reminiscence. 2. Remembrance. 3. Memorial, commemorative record, monumental record. 4. Fame, renown, reputation, celebrity.

Moby Thesaurus

RAM, anamnesis, anniversaries, archetypal pattern, archetype, awareness, celebrating, celebration, ceremony, cognizance, commemoration, consciousness, disk memory, dressing ship, drum memory, engram, fanfare, fanfaronade, father image, festivity, flourish of trumpets, heroic legend, high-speed memory, holiday, homage, honor, image, imago, immortal name, immortality, jubilee, legend, looking back, marking the occasion, memento, memorialization, memory trace, memory tubes, mind, observance, ovation, recall, recollection, reexperiencing, reflection, rejoicing, religious rites, reliving, remembrance, reminiscence, respect, retention, retentiveness, retrospection, revel, revival, rite, ritual observance, salute, salvo, solemn observance, solemnization, souvenir, storage, storage system, storage unit, tape memory, testimonial, testimonial banquet, testimonial dinner, thought, toast, traumatic trace, tribute, triumph, unconscious memory, undying fame, youth