memoir
Americannoun
-
memoirs
plural
-
a record of events written by a person having intimate knowledge of them and based on personal observation.
-
Usually memoirs.
-
an account of one's personal life and experiences; autobiography.
-
the published record of the proceedings of a group or organization, as of a learned society.
-
-
a biography or biographical sketch.
noun
-
a biography or historical account, esp one based on personal knowledge
-
an essay or monograph, as on a specialized topic
-
obsolete a memorandum
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of memoir
First recorded in 1560–70; from French mémoire, from Latin memoria; see memory
Explanation
The beginning of a short memoir of your life might read like this: I was born on a dark and stormy night. My days remained blustery — school was difficult for me, and my parents argued all of the time. My luck changed when... A memoir is a person's own account of his or her life. Memoirs allow for a bit more literary freedom than autobiographies as they involve introspection and a creative view of your past. As you go through life or a phase in life, you can write things down in your memoirs so that at a later time, you can publish a memoir about it.
Vocabulary lists containing memoir
TEKS ELAR Academic Vocabulary List (5th-7th grades)
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Literary Genres - Introductory
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
25 Words from "Baseball and Black History"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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 author of the memoir “Free Range Girl” on writers who revisit the struggles, adventures and heartaches of youth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
Davies - who recently released his memoir 'The Queerest of Folk: A Life in Television' - got his first break aged 22 working in BBC children's TV "for £50 a day".
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Davis, prosecutor Marc DiGiacomo argued Tuesday, profited off the rapper’s death in writing his memoir and “deserved the maximum possible sentence.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Clark County chief prosecutors told jurors that when Davis published his memoir, he waived his rights under the 2008 proffer deal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
Although it was not published while I was in prison, it forms the spine of this memoir.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
The worldwide exclusive is here for you to enjoy, and it’s hardly the milk-and-cookies remembrances of some CEO memoirs past.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
Prime ministerial memoirs tell the stories of how central a moment it is in the week of any occupant of 10 Downing Street.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
All book adaptations, whether from novels or memoirs, could stand to embellish the facts here and there, or go ahead and reinvent the wheel when possible.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
The investigation sputtered for decades because of a lack of evidence, but the cold case was revived with the publication in 2019 of Davis's memoirs.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
After losing his entire fortune to bad investments in the early 1880s, he wrote his memoirs with the help of editor Mark Twain.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
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.
