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:
The only other link on the site is to former Attorney General Pam Bondi’s implementation memo, which promised new LEP guidance within 180 days.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
Peter Crist, chairman of executive-recruitment firm Crist Kolder Associates, who previously worked at Korn Ferry, said the memo overstepped in its analysis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Bondi’s memo also threw shade by implication at the use of human translators, while boosting A.I.:
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
The Flores memo is organized in two columns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
In a memo, Traynor had described Dasch's complex personality.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
“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 a senior Justice Department official during the George W. Bush administration, Yoo wrote memos authorizing the use of harsh interrogation tactics on terrorism suspects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 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 natural custodian of bus tickets, bank receipts, cash memos, checkbook stubs.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
