commemorate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to serve as a memorial or reminder of.
The monument commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
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to honor the memory of by some observance.
to commemorate the dead by a moment of silence; to commemorate Bastille Day.
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to make honorable mention of.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of commemorate
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin commemorātus “recalled,” past participle of commemorāre “to recall, put on record,” from com- com- + memor “mindful” + -āre, infinitive verb suffix
Explanation
To commemorate something means to remember something and by doing so to honor it, as in “We would like to commemorate his many years of past service by presenting him with this lovely gold watch.” The word commemorate has a pretty clear echo of memory in it, so it can help to keep it in your mind just by noticing that. You might also notice that you’ve seen the word before, either in late-night infomercials or in various advertisements in magazines, when they talk about commemorative plates, or stamps, or coins: little things that are supposed to honor events or people by recalling them to our collective memory.
Vocabulary lists containing commemorate
Memorial Day Words
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Commonly Misspelled Words, List 5
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Academy Awards, List 2
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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.
The incident took place because that pilot had wanted to take photos to commemorate his last flight with his military unit.
From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026
And in October the Steve Reich Ensemble and Alarm Will Sound will commemorate the composer’s 90th birthday with four performances at the Park Avenue Armory in New York.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026
Commissioner Bob Crawford hand-delivered a 10-carton shipment to commemorate the event.
From Slate • Apr. 20, 2026
The speech was supposed to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which the nation will be celebrating this summer.
From Salon • Apr. 19, 2026
Several trophy cases commemorate the school’s mostly unsuccessful athletic teams, and a big bulletin board lists the colleges that current seniors have been admitted to, along with the dollar amounts of scholarships they were awarded.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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.
