collective memory

American  

noun

1. a memory or memories shared or recollected by a group, as a community or culture.

2. any collection of memories passed from one generation to the next.

---

collective memory British  

noun

1. the shared memories of a group, family, race, etc

---

Example Sentences

In your introduction, you quote Yale Law School’s Jack Balkin, reflecting upon “the use of collective memory in a constitutional argument.”

From Slate • Mar. 16, 2026

Historians are divided, with Athens' Benaki Museum's head archivist Tasos Sakellaropoulos calling the tomb a "place of silent collective memory and respect, not of pain or anger" in Kathimerini daily.

From Barron's • Oct. 23, 2025

The movie itself seems likely to de-resolve in the collective memory within 29 minutes.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025

Of all history's declarations about the Middle East, one that may be less prominent in the global collective memory was in Tokyo in November 2023.

From BBC • Jul. 30, 2025

A few have lodged firmly in the state’s collective memory.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer