meme
[ meem ]
/ mim /
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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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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 likegene;cf. mimesis
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
How to use meme in a sentence
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
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