anamnesis
Americannoun
plural
anamneses-
the recollection or remembrance of the past; reminiscence.
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Platonism. recollection of the Ideas, which the soul had known in a previous existence, especially by means of reasoning.
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the medical history of a patient.
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Immunology. a prompt immune response to a previously encountered antigen, characterized by more rapid onset and greater effectiveness of antibody and T cell reaction than during the first encounter, as after a booster shot in a previously immunized person.
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Often Anamnesis a prayer in a Eucharistic service, recalling the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ.
noun
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the ability to recall past events; recollection
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the case history of a patient
Other Word Forms
- anamnestic adjective
- anamnestically adverb
Etymology
Origin of anamnesis
First recorded in 1650–60; from New Latin, from Greek anámnēsis “remembrance,” equivalent to ana(mi)mnḗ(skein) “to remember” ( ana ana- + mimnḗskein “to call to mind”) + -sis -sis
Explanation
The ability to remember things that happened in the past is anamnesis. In ancient Greece, anamnesis was believed to include memories of past lives. The original, philosophical meaning of anamnesis included taking memories from past existences and using them in your current life, through rational thought and true knowledge. The word has come to mean, more generally, "memory." It can also apply to a patient's medical history; a doctor might take notes on your anamnesis during a first visit. Anamnesis is a Greek word that means "a calling to mind," from the roots ana-, "back," and mimneskesthai, "to recall" or "to cause to remember."
Vocabulary lists containing anamnesis
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.
Plato once wrote of anamnesis, the idea that humans have innate knowledge buried within us, and that learning is the act of unearthing it.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 8, 2019
As for the Catholic belief that the Mass re-enacts Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, the statement describes the Eucharistic service as an "anamnesis," or representation, of God's reconciling act in Christ's sacrifice.
From Time Magazine Archive
Plato said that man kind never discovers anything new, but comes into the world knowing subconsciously all that can be known and simply exhumes it in a remembering process called anamnesis.
From Time Magazine Archive
It is the familiar, autumnal Auden speaking: student of fleshly decay, writer of thank-you notes, urbane scold, expert at anamnesis, a celebrator of the numinous past that raises nostalgia almost to the level of ritual.
From Time Magazine Archive
In case no anamnesis is obtainable the functional nature of the trouble may be recognized by the absence of those physical signs which characterize the organic stupors.
From Benign Stupors A Study of a New Manic-Depressive Reaction Type by MacCurdy, John T. (John Thompson)
Definitions 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.
