mnemonic

[ ni-mon-ik ]

adjective

1. assisting or intended to assist the memory.
2. pertaining to mnemonics or to memory.

noun

1. something intended to assist the memory, as a verse or formula.
2. Computers. a programming code that is easy to remember, as STO for “store.”

mnemonic

/ nɪˈmɒnɪk /

adjective

1. aiding or meant to aid one's memory
2. of or relating to memory or mnemonics

noun

1. something, such as a verse, to assist memory

Derived Forms

• mneˈmonically, adverb

Other Words From

• mne·moni·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of mnemonic¹

1660–70; < Greek mnēmonikós of, relating to memory, equivalent to mnēmon- (stem of mnḗmōn ) mindful + -ikos -ic

Word History and Origins

Origin of mnemonic¹

C18: from Greek mnēmonikos, from mnēmōn mindful, from mnasthai to remember

Example Sentences

It doesn’t care what you’re fond of, or what mnemonic you learned in elementary school.

From Science News

Young approached the nonprofit Capitol Hill Arts Workshop with an idea for mnemonic animal signs.

From Washington Post

These items helped their families to survive but also served as mnemonic devices that combated the erasure of their histories, their existence.

From Washington Post

Mitchell uses the term “wishful mnemonics,” coined by a computer scientist in the 1970s.

From Singularity Hub 

The Marin Carbon Project’s approach is painstakingly data-driven—Wick loves the mnemonic “Measure, map, model, and monitor to manage.”

From MIT Technology Review

As for the creative process of writing mnemonic verses versus songs?

From The Daily Beast

He himself went on to produce The Quiet American and Johnny Mnemonic.

From The Daily Beast

The advent of language is intrinsically linked to memory, and many early languages were simply mnemonic devices.

From The Daily Beast

But this term would have no mnemonic significance to one who knows the word Mars as meaning only one of the planets.

From Project Gutenberg

Such misunderstandings, produced by false mnemonic, may easily occur during the examination of witnesses.

From Project Gutenberg

On the one hand, it may help to clear up misunderstandings when false mnemonic has been applied.

From Project Gutenberg

There is also a reference to this battle on the ice in the Klfsvsa, a mnemonic list of famous heroes and their horses.

From Project Gutenberg

The form in which many episodes are cast is not unlike a mnemonic, leaving the story-teller to fill in the details himself.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• evocative
• redolent
• similar