meme

[ meem ]
/ mim /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR meme ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

  1. a cultural item that is transmitted by repetition and replication in a manner analogous to the biological transmission of genes.
  2. a cultural item in the form of an image, video, phrase, etc., that is spread via the internet and often altered in a creative or humorous way.

verb (used without object), memed, meme·ing or mem·ing.

to create and spread memes: He spends a lot of time memeing and sharing his videos with friends.

verb (used with object), memed, meme·ing or mem·ing.

to make the subject of a meme: cute cats that get memed.

QUIZZES

QUIZ YOURSELF ON THESE WORDS FROM BROWN GIRL DREAMING!

Visualize yourself passing this quiz on words from Jacqueline Woodson’s exquisite verse novel “Brown Girl Dreaming,” and then take the quiz to prove you can do it! (Because you can.)
Question 1 of 10
What does “barren” mean?
a cylindrical wooden container with slightly bulging sides.
Worn down by dullness, tedious repetition.
unproductive; unfruitful
TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of meme

First recorded in 1976; coined by British evolutionary biologist C. Richard Dawkins (born 1941), shortening of Dawkins's original creation mimeme, which was based on Greek mī́mēma “imitation, copy; artistic representation,” but which Dawkins also wanted to look and sound like gene;cf. mimesis

Words nearby meme

membranous labyrinth, membranous laryngitis, membranous ossification, membranous rhinitis, membrum, meme, me-media, Memel, memento, memento mori, Memling
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Content related to meme

The Original Memes (Before Memes)Memes capture the concept of “cultural transmission” of ideas. Which means they have been around as long as humans have.
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The Office Helped Create These Memorable And Meme-able WordsThe good old days of The Office. These quotes. They're the same picture. If you're missing office banter, you need to revisit these iconic quotes.
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Words related to meme

trend, buzzword, idea, concept, craze, fad, fashion, kick, vogue, meteor

Example sentences from the Web for meme

British Dictionary definitions for meme

meme
/ (miːm) /

noun

an idea or element of social behaviour passed on through generations in a culture, esp by imitation

Word Origin for meme

C20: possibly from mimic, on the model of gene
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