meme
[ meem ]
/ mim /
noun
- 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.
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.
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What Happens When Memes Go WrongLOLcats. Good Guy Greg. Forever Alone Rage Face. Scumbag Steve. If you recognize that these are internet memes, you’re not oblivious to the raging cultural phenomenon that has swept internet screens in the last several years. So, what does meme mean? For the uninitiated, an internet meme is any concept expressed through digital media that goes viral—a photo, video, GIF, song, doodle, fictional character, symbol. The …
The Original Memes (Before Memes)The word meme, coined in 1976 by the evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, goes way beyond social-media pixels. Meme captures the concept of “cultural transmission” of ideas in general, where customs and ideas spread from brain to brain. Which means memes have been around longer than Success Kid or Kermit sipping tea. Wildfire ideas have been around as long as humans have—in fact, discovering fire is …
RELATED WORDS
Nearby words
- membranous laryngitis,
- membranous ossification,
- membranous rhinitis,
- membranously,
- membrum,
- memel,
- memento,
- memento mori,
- memling,
- memling, hans
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. 2019
Examples from the Web 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
meme
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]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper