memory
the mental capacity or faculty of retaining and reviving facts, events, impressions, etc., or of recalling or recognizing previous experiences.
this faculty as possessed by a particular individual: to have a good memory.
the act or fact of retaining and recalling impressions, facts, etc.; remembrance; recollection: to draw from memory.
the length of time over which recollection extends: a time within the memory of living persons.
a mental impression retained; a recollection: one's earliest memories.
the reputation of a person or thing, especially after death; fame: a ruler of beloved memory.
the state or fact of being remembered.
a person, thing, event, fact, etc., remembered.
commemorative remembrance; commemoration: a monument in memory of Columbus.
the ability of certain materials to return to an original shape after deformation.
Also called computer memory, storage. Computers.
the capacity of a computer to store information subject to recall.
the components of the computer in which such information is stored.
Rhetoric. the step in the classical preparation of a speech in which the wording is memorized.
Cards. concentration (def. 7).
Origin of memory
1Words Nearby memory
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use memory in a sentence
Unlike the original Game Boy, the new console’s memory allows games to resume play at the exact same spot after a power interruption.
A Game Boy look-alike runs on solar panels and button smashes | Maria Temming | September 15, 2020 | Science NewsVarious kinds of immune memory, including some with mechanisms similar to trained immunity, likely also helped invertebrates to survive.
‘Trained Immunity’ Offers Hope in Fight Against Coronavirus | Esther Landhuis | September 14, 2020 | Quanta MagazineNasdaq’s nifty bounce yesterday, its biggest gains since April, seems like a distant memory as markets turn negative once again on Thursday.
Global markets dip as investors again sour on tech stocks | Bernhard Warner | September 10, 2020 | FortuneKornell compares our memory to water in a bucket that has a small leak.
Top 10 tips on how to study smarter, not longer | Kathiann Kowalski | September 9, 2020 | Science News For StudentsLast week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk demonstrated the latest iteration of Neuralink, his brain-implant startup that aims to one day help paralyzed people walk and even save memories or control computers with just a thought.
And there is definitely something to finding solace in food, familiarity, and memory.
Everyone at This Dinner Party Has Lost Someone | Samantha Levine | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTThat idea is often invoked in regards to the tricks memory plays, but I wonder how it might come into play in other ways.
Daphne Merkin on Lena Dunham, Book Criticism, and Self-Examination | Mindy Farabee | December 26, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe folk memory of medieval community life had been wiped out by the industrial revolution.
He has become the most radical pope in modern memory for his economic populism.
I had no memory of the other two, and that information was used to discredit my recollection of what had happened to me.
I Was Gang Raped at a UVA Frat 30 Years Ago, and No One Did Anything | Liz Seccuro | December 16, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe memory of him shall not depart away, and his name shall be in request from generation to generation.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | VariousSo intelligent were her methods that she doubtless had great influence in making the memory of his art enduring.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D. | Clara Erskine ClementHowever great the power of Revival, there is no memory unless there was a First Impression.
Assimilative Memory | Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)First Impressions are usually vivid but the power to revive them is weak—a poor memory.
Assimilative Memory | Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)First Impressions are usually weak but the power to revive them is strong—still a poor memory.
Assimilative Memory | Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
British Dictionary definitions for memory
/ (ˈmɛmərɪ) /
the ability of the mind to store and recall past sensations, thoughts, knowledge, etc: he can do it from memory
the part of the brain that appears to have this function
the sum of everything retained by the mind
a particular recollection of an event, person, etc
the time over which recollection extends: within his memory
commemoration or remembrance: in memory of our leader
the state of being remembered, as after death
Also called: RAM, main store, store a part of a computer in which information is stored for immediate use by the central processing unit: See also backing store, virtual storage
the tendency for a material, system, etc, to show effects that depend on its past treatment or history
the ability of a material, etc, to return to a former state after a constraint has been removed
Origin of memory
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for memory
[ mĕm′ə-rē ]
The ability to remember past experiences or learned information, involving advanced mental processes such as learning, retention, recall, and recognition and resulting from chemical changes between neurons in several different areas of the brain, including the hippocampus. Immediate memory lasts for just a few seconds. Short-term memory stores information that has been minimally processed and is available only for a few minutes, as in remembering a phone number just long enough to use it. Short-term memory is transferred into long-term memory, which can last for many years, only when repeated use of the information facilitates neurochemical changes that allow it to be retained. The loss of memory because of disease or injury is called amnesia.
The collection of information gained from past learning or experience that is stored in a person's mind.
A piece of information, such as the mental image of an experience, that is stored in the memory.
A part of a computer in which data is stored for later use.
The capacity of a computer, chips, and storage devices to preserve data and programs for retrieval. Memory is measured in bytes. See more at hard disk RAM ROM.
The capacity of a material, such as plastic or metal, to return to a previous shape or condition.
The capacity of the immune system to produce a specific immune response to an antigen it has previously encountered.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with memory
see commit to memory; in memory of.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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