meme

[meem]

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.

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

Related Words for memes

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

Examples from the Web for memes

Contemporary Examples of memes

Christie has problems, and they begin with the fact that photos and videos and memes can haunt us.
Will Chris Christie Regret His Cowboy Hug?
Matt Lewis
January 5, 2015
Memes that ridiculed political leaders and the Hong Kong Police Force shot through fiber optic cables at light speed.
China’s Internet Is Freer Than You Think
Brendon Hong
December 27, 2014
Instead, the memes tackled the sexual assault allegations head-on.
The Bill Cosby Controversy Stages of Grief
Amy Zimmerman
November 18, 2014
Heroic in World Cup defeat, he was instantly immortalized in memes.
Team USA Goalie Tim Howard Goes Viral: All the Best Memes
Melissa Leon
July 2, 2014
When Richard Dawkins coined the term “memes,” he described a new agent of evolution: Ideas.
On Transhumanism and Why Technology Is Our Silicon Nervous System
Jason Silva
April 26, 2014

Historical Examples of memes

Its implicit assumption is that memes, the spiritual equivalent of genes, are subject to mechanisms of evolution.
The Civilization of Illiteracy
Mihai Nadin
The pencil and brush are replaced by the scanner and by memes of operations favoring minute detail over meaningful wholes.
The Civilization of Illiteracy
Mihai Nadin

British Dictionary definitions for memes

meme

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

Word Origin and History for memes

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]