reminiscence

[rem-uh-nis-uhns]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR reminiscence ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the act or process of recalling past experiences, events, etc.

a mental impression retained and revived.

Often reminiscences. a recollection narrated or told: reminiscences of an American soldier.

something that recalls or suggests something else.

(in Platonic philosophy) anamnesis(def 2).

Nearby words

Origin of reminiscence

1580–90; < Middle French < Late Latin reminiscentia. See reminiscent, -ence

SYNONYMS FOR reminiscence

1. recollection. 2. memory. 3. anecdote, tale, memoir. 4. reminder.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR reminiscence ON THESAURUS.COM

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for reminiscence

A scene about Townsend will slip into a reminiscence about his childhood, or a forecasting of his death.
American Dreams, 2003: The Known World by Edward P. Jones|Nathaniel Rich|November 26, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The photo-sharing app that was recently sold to Facebook for a billion dollars (yes, with a “b”) also peddles in reminiscence.
As Americans Yen for a More Promising Past, Obama Charges Forward|Judith Grey|June 3, 2012|DAILY BEAST
When a reminiscence got going in the Back Trace, nights, it worked like a freestyle morphine jazz.
Must Reads: Kennedy, Sontag and Paris, ‘A Partial History of Lost Causes,’ ‘City of Bohane,’ ‘Flatscreen’|Lauren Elkin, Mythili Rao, Drew Toal, Nicholas Mancusi|April 6, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Elimination is your watchword, whether chucking 20th century memorabilia or relationships hinged on reminiscence.
Horoscopes: May 29-June 4, 2011|Starsky + Cox|May 28, 2011|DAILY BEAST

Lois and Frank's suicide pact in the series finale—as they reminiscence about halcyon days—is a chance for peace and release.
Big Love's 12 Most Memorable Moments|Jace Lacob|March 19, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Then a reminiscence, which had never before failed to rouse indignation in her, made her laugh.
Cashel Byron's Profession|George Bernard Shaw
Sensing this drift I opened the hour of reminiscence and told some of my experiences in the jungle of southern Mexico.
Tales of lonely trails|Zane Grey
The doctrine of reminiscence is also a fragment of a former world, which has no place in the philosophy of modern times.
Phaedo|Plato
I should have liked to preserve of you the reminiscence of an excellent friend.
The Red Lily, Complete|Anatole France
A reminiscence of this incident is also found in Steel-Temple, No.
Filipino Popular Tales|Dean S. Fansler

British Dictionary definitions for reminiscence

reminiscence

noun

the act of recalling or narrating past experiences

(often plural) some past experience, event, etc, that is recalled or narrated; anecdote

an event, phenomenon, or experience that reminds one of something else

(in the philosophy of Plato) the doctrine that perception and recognition of particulars is possible because the mind has seen the universal forms of all things in a previous disembodied existence

psychol the ability to perform a task better when tested some time after the task has been learnt than when tested immediately after learning it

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for reminiscence

reminiscence

1580s, "act of remembering," from Middle French reminiscence (14c.) and directly from Late Latin reminiscentia "remembrance, recollection" (a loan-translation of Greek anamnesis), from Latin reminiscentem (nominative reminiscens), present participle of reminisci "remember, recall to mind," from re- "again" (see re-) + minisci "to remember," from root of mens "mind," from PIE root *men- "mind, understanding, reason" (see mind (n.)). Meaning "a recollection of something past" is attested from 1811.

reminiscence

noun

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of reminiscence

Examples from the Web for reminiscence

reminiscence

noun

reminiscence