memo
Americannoun
-
memos
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of memo
By shortening; see -o
Explanation
A memo is a written message. Your boss may send around a memo in your office warning employees to not spend so much time socializing by the water cooler and to get back to work. The intent of most memos is to help you remember something, or to remind another person of something. In a business or government setting, it's particularly important to keep written notes on decisions and communications between people. A written or emailed memo is one way to keep such a record. The word is short for memorandum, "thing to be recorded" in Latin, and a close linguistic relative of memory.
Vocabulary lists containing memo
Total Recall: Mem
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Part 3 Literary Terms (Unit 1)
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Part 3 Literary Terms (Unit 3)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
You can say, “I don’t really want to look at this Google Doc, and pound through another revision of this memo that I’m writing,” but you can force yourself to do it.
From Slate ● Oct. 17, 2026
The memo caught the eye of several executive recruiters, many of whom said they were struck by the specific language used, while also being unsurprised by the format of the document.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
The memo encouraged donors to cough up another $17 million over the next two weeks.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
“To be clear, the debate on whether we do this has ended,” he wrote in an Aug. 28 memo, referring to a broader set of recommendations including the steam catapults.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
“I didn’t receive any memo about anything happening today,” he announced.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Advanced Data Protection is an opt-in feature that allows users to turn on a higher level of protection for data stored in iCloud, such as back-ups, Drive storage, photos and voice memos.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Down by her green toes, Melanie Griffith’s Staten Island secretary Tess McGill ferries to Manhattan to type memos for important men.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
As they read your long-ago emails and memos, you want your years of hard work, passion and loyalty to your employer to jump off the page.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
The White House typically releases physician-written memos summarizing presidential physicals, translating full medical records into condensed clinical findings for public release.
From Salon ● May 31, 2026
A bunch of memos were stuffed into a clipboard.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
