memo
Americannoun
-
memos
plural
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.
See Examples For:
Two days later, Deters sent her a photo of a printed memo addressed to her: “I have paid you $300,000 over the years,” he wrote.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
In its memo to the school board, the union said the state’s own data analysis had placed the district at “moderate risk” rather than high risk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Well, either he didn't get his own memo or he deliberately chose to deceive people.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
The Pentagon memo establishing the office says it cannot “compel religious participation” or diminish the rights of service members, civilian employees or family members “of any faith or no faith.”
From Salon ● Oct. 3, 2026
It was clear from Terryl’s memo where she stood.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
“That intro is definitely striking,” he told me in the first of many voice memos.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Advanced Data Protection is an opt-in feature that allows users to turn on a higher level of protection for data stored in iCloud, such as back-ups, Drive storage, photos and voice memos.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
As they read your long-ago emails and memos, you want your years of hard work, passion and loyalty to your employer to jump off the page.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
The White House typically releases physician-written memos summarizing presidential physicals, translating full medical records into condensed clinical findings for public release.
From Salon ● May 31, 2026
Other critical details have been censored in the memos, making it unclear who was offering her the job and exactly what it entailed.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
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.
