collective memory

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noun

a memory or memories shared or recollected by a group, as a community or culture.

any collection of memories passed from one generation to the next.

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Words nearby collective memory

collective behavior, collective farm, collective fruit, collectively, collective mark, collective memory, collective noun, collective ownership, collective pitch lever, collective security, collective unconscious

How to use collective memory in a sentence

Some of the historical topics we cover will be big and familiar, and others will come from the tapestry of smaller, local events that changed American society and politics, then disappeared from our collective memory.
Welcome to Made by History|Brian Rosenwald, Carly Goodman, Kathryn Brownell|April 21, 2021|Washington Post
That map is not in the genome, however, but in a kind of collective memory of the cells themselves.
Cells Form Into ‘Xenobots’ on Their Own|Philip Ball|March 31, 2021|Quanta Magazine
You can really connect the personal memory to more of a collective memory.
Aromas can evoke beloved journeys — or voyages not yet taken|Jen Rose Smith|February 11, 2021|Washington Post
It’s also been keenly cruel to the collective memory of Major League Baseball — and its best players.
Baseball Lost A Team Of Legends This Year|Howard Megdal|December 30, 2020|FiveThirtyEight

While their men have left an indelible imprint on our collective memory the women who gave them vital support, encouragement and direction have largely remained relegated to the footnotes of history.
What We Can Learn About Nazi Psychology From the Wives of Hitler’s Top Officials|James Wyllie|November 12, 2020|Time
The speaker conjures up centuries of collective sagacity, aligning oneself with an eternal, inarguable good.
Politicians Only Love Journalists When They're Dead|Luke O’Neil|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
We haven't had any real fan reaction yet, but our collective fingers are crossed.
‘Archer’ Creator Adam Reed Spills Season 6 Secrets, From Surreal Plotlines to Life Post-ISIS|Marlow Stern|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
And there is definitely something to finding solace in food, familiarity, and memory.
Everyone at This Dinner Party Has Lost Someone|Samantha Levine|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The gym—a fragile collective of human ecology at the best of times—has suddenly become even more tense.
How to Survive the New Year ‘Gympocalypse’|Tim Teeman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The trio formed the Sad Boys collective, with Sherm and Gud on production and Lean manning the mic.
The Cult of Yung Lean: ‘I’m Building An Anarchistic Society From the Ground Up’|Marlow Stern|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The memory of him shall not depart away, and his name shall be in request from generation to generation.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various
So intelligent were her methods that she doubtless had great influence in making the memory of his art enduring.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
However great the power of Revival, there is no memory unless there was a First Impression.
Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
First Impressions are usually vivid but the power to revive them is weak—a poor memory.
Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
First Impressions are usually weak but the power to revive them is strong—still a poor memory.
Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)

British Dictionary definitions for collective memory

collective memory

noun

the shared memories of a group, family, race, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012