meme
[meem]
- a cultural item that is transmitted by repetition and replication in a manner analogous to the biological transmission of genes.
- 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.
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- to create and spread memes: He spends a lot of time memeing and sharing his videos with friends.
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- to make the subject of a meme: cute cats that get memed.
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Origin of meme
First recorded in 1976, meme is from the Greek word mīmeîsthai ‘to imitate, copy’; coined by R. Dawkins, British biologist
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for meme
Contemporary Examples
Some immediately treated the young rapper as a punchline, turning his awkward posture in the photo into a meme.
The beef began three days ago, when Snoop posted an unflattering Iggy meme to his Instagram.
Who Dat, Who Dat? It’s Snoop Dogg Saying Misogynistic Things to I-G-G-YAmy Zimmerman
October 15, 2014
The meme enters your mind, changes how you behave, and then finds a way to pass itself on to another person.
Another ad attempts to tie Land to the “war on women” meme that worked so well for Democrats in 2012.
The meme is that doctors are getting away with something and need constant training, watching and regulating.
Historical Examples
Pu d'instants apres il dit l'Empereur Alexandre lui meme, "Il ne vous reste que le tronc—mais le cœur y est, et la tte est vous."
Travels in France during the years 1814-1815Archibald Alison
meme
- an idea or element of social behaviour passed on through generations in a culture, esp by imitation
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for meme
n.
1976, introduced by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in "The Selfish Gene," coined by him from Greek sources, e.g. mimeisthai "to imitate" (see mime), and intended to echo gene.
We need a name for the new replicator, a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation. 'Mimeme' comes from a suitable Greek root, but I want a monosyllable that sounds a bit like 'gene'. I hope my classicist friends will forgive me if I abbreviate mimeme to meme. If it is any consolation, it could alternatively be thought of as being related to 'memory', or to the French word même. It should be pronounced to rhyme with 'cream'. [Richard Dawkins, "The Selfish Gene," 1976]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper