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:
Now, in a memo released Wednesday, the White House is attempting to fight back against cybercrime by encouraging private companies to go after transnational criminal organizations “by incorporating the ingenuity of the private sector.”
From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026
The memo was a signed commitment from both the US and Iran for further talks to reach a final agreement.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
McDonald wrote in a memo made public Thursday that his division would soon have 500 lawyers and support staff.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
While held at the juvenile hall in Sylmar, Jester met his mother, Nickia Randall, for the first time, his lawyer wrote in a sentencing memo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
He surveyed his classroom after sitting on the edge of his desk, holding the memo.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Down by her green toes, Melanie Griffith’s Staten Island secretary Tess McGill ferries to Manhattan to type memos for important men.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 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
Young workers who grew up texting and DMing seem to view many emails as one-way communiqués, akin to hard-copy memos.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
The only evidence for it comes from a few memos in her files, showing that she was recruited for another government job in November 1949.
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.
