memo
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of memo
By shortening; see -o
Explanation
A memo is a written message. Your boss may send around a memo in your office warning employees to not spend so much time socializing by the water cooler and to get back to work. The intent of most memos is to help you remember something, or to remind another person of something. In a business or government setting, it's particularly important to keep written notes on decisions and communications between people. A written or emailed memo is one way to keep such a record. The word is short for memorandum, "thing to be recorded" in Latin, and a close linguistic relative of memory.
Vocabulary lists containing memo
Total Recall: Mem
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Part 3 Literary Terms (Unit 1)
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Part 3 Literary Terms (Unit 3)
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Our business is changing because the world around it is changing," Amy Coleman, Microsoft's executive vice president, wrote in a memo to all employees.
From Barron's • Jul. 6, 2026
The company will lay off 1,600 people this week and 1,600 more during the rest of the fiscal year that began this month, Xbox Chief Executive Asha Sharma said in a memo to staff Monday.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 6, 2026
“Wedges” “drove strategy” within the company, according to a 2014 internal memo.
From Salon • Jun. 26, 2026
The memo did not specify what agency would be tasked with confirming deaths, according to the Post.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 25, 2026
On August 11, he drafted a memo to John Ehrlichman recommending: “A covert operation be undertaken to examine all the medical files still held by Ellsberg’s psychoanalyst.”
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
