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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary mem·o·ry \\ˈmem-rē, ˈme-mə-\\ noun (plural -ries) ETYMOLOGY Middle English memorie, from Anglo-French memoire, memorie, from Latin memoria, from memor mindful; akin to Old English gemimor well-known, Greek mermēra care, Sanskrit smarati he remembers DATE 14th century 1. a. the power or process of reproducing or recalling what has been learned and retained especially through associative mechanisms b. the store of things learned and retained from an organism's activity or experience as evidenced by modification of structure or behavior or by recall and recognition 2. a. commemorative remembrance erected a statue in memory of the hero b. the fact or condition of being remembered days of recent memory 3. a. a particular act of recall or recollection b. an image or impression of one that is remembered fond memories of her youth c. the time within which past events can be or are remembered within the memory of living men 4. a. a device (as a chip) or a component of a device in which information especially for a computer can be inserted and stored and from which it may be extracted when wanted; especially : ram b. capacity for storing information 512 megabytes of memory 5. a capacity for showing effects as the result of past treatment or for returning to a former condition — used especially of a material (as metal or plastic) Synonyms. memory , remembrance , recollection , reminiscence mean the capacity for or the act of remembering, or the thing remembered. memory applies both to the power of remembering and to what is remembered gifted with a remarkable memory that incident was now just a distant memory remembrance applies to the act of remembering or the fact of being remembered any remembrance of his deceased wife was painful recollection adds an implication of consciously bringing back to mind often with some effort after a moment's recollection he produced the name reminiscence suggests the recalling of usually pleasant incidents, experiences, or feelings from a remote past my grandmother's reminiscences of her Iowa girlhood English Etymology memory mid-13c., from Anglo-Fr. memorie, from L. memoria, from memor "mindful, remembering," from PIE base *men-/*mon-"think" (see mind (n.)). Computer sense is from 1946."I am grown old and my memory is not as active as it used to be.When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not; but my faculties are decaying now and soon I shall be so I cannot remember any but the things that never happened. It is sad to go to pieces like this, but we all have to do it." [Mark Twain]Related: Memories. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 ☞ memory mem·ory / 5memEri / (pl. -ies)nounABILITY TO REMEMBER 记忆力 1. [C, U] ~ (for sth) your ability to remember things 记忆力；记性: I have a bad memory for names. 我不善于记名字。 People have short memories (= they soon forget). 人是健忘的。 He had a long memory for people who had disappointed him. 谁让他失望,他总是记恨在心。 She can recite the whole poem from memory. 她能背诵全诗。 He suffered loss of memory for weeks after the accident. 事故之后他有几个星期失去记忆。 Are you sure? Memory can play tricks on you. 你肯定吗？记忆也会捉弄人的。 2. [U] the period of time that sb is able to remember events 记忆所及的时期；回忆所及的范围: There hasn't been peace in the country in / within my memory. 在我的记忆里,这个国家从没太平过。 It was the worst storm in recent memory. 最近能记得的风暴中,这是最厉害的一次。 This hasn't happened in living memory (= nobody alive now can remember it happening). 在世的人都不记得发生过这样的事。 STH YOU REMEMBER 记忆之物 3. [C] a thought of sth that you remember from the past 回忆；记忆 SYN recollection :
childhood memories 童年的回忆 I have vivid memories of my grandparents. 我依然清楚地记得我的祖父母。 What is your earliest memory? 你最早能记得的是什么？ The photos bring back lots of good memories. 这些照片唤起了许多美好的回忆。 4. [U] (formal) what is remembered about sb after they have died 对死者的记忆: Her memory lives on (= we still remember her). 我们永远怀念她。 COMPUTING 计算机技术 5. [C, U] the part of a computer where information is stored; the amount of space in a computer for storing information 存贮器；内存； 记忆体 ⇨ see also RAM IDIOMS ▪ if (my) memory serves me well, correctly, etc. if I remember correctly 如果我没有记错的话 ▪ in memory of sb | to the memory of sb intended to show respect and remind people of sb who has died 作为对某人的纪念: He founded the charity in memory of his late wife. 他创办了这一慈善事业以纪念他已故的妻子。 ⇨ more at etch , jog v., refresh , sieve n. Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English memory noun 1 ability to remember ADJ. excellent, good, long, prodigious, retentive | bad, poor, short | long-term, short-term His short-term memory was damaged in the accident. | visual Bad spellers have a weak visual memory. | photographic VERB + MEMORY jog, refresh Seeing your name in the paper jogged my memory. | lose Most people start to lose their memory as they get older. | commit sth to I committed the number to memory and threw the letter away. PREP. from ~ He recited the whole poem from memory. | ~ for I have a good memory for faces. PHRASES in living/recent memory the coldest winter in living memory 2 thought of the past ADJ. childhood, early My earliest childhood memory is of falling in a pond in winter. | dim, distant, fading, hazy, vague | clear, vivid | affectionate, fond, good, happy, lovely, nostalgic, pleasant, positive, precious, sweet, warm, wonderful | bitter-sweet | bad, bitter, disturbing, embarrassing, horrific, painful, sad, traumatic, unhappy, unpleasant | abiding, enduring, lasting, lingering My abiding memory of our first meeting is of a girl too shy to talk. VERB + MEMORY bring back, evoke, rekindle, revive, stir (up) | blot out He tried to blot out his memories of the ordeal. MEMORY + VERB come flooding back, flood back When we visited my old family home, memories came flooding back. | fade PREP. in ~ of He planted some apple trees in memory of his wife. | ~ from Smells and tastes often evoke memories from the past. | ~ of fond memories of her childhood OLT memory noun ⇨ memory Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged mem·o·ry I. \ˈmem(ə)rē, -ri\ noun (-es) Etymology: Middle English memorie, from Middle French memorie, memoire, from Latin memoria, from memor mindful + -ia -y; akin to Old English gemimor well-known, mimorian to remember, Middle Dutch mimeren to muse, brood, Latin mora delay, Old Irish airmert prohibition, Greek mermēra trouble, Sanskrit smarati he remembers; basic meaning: to remember 1. a. archaic : a ceremony of commemoration : a service for the dead b. obsolete : a historical or biographical record c. obsolete : memorial , memento 2. a. (1) : the power or process of reproducing or recalling what has been learned and retained especially through nonconscious associative mechanisms : conscious or unconscious evocation of things past < semantic reception is associated with great use of memory — Norbert Wiener > < seemed lost in thought or memory — E.A.McCourt > < in memory, one images or reproduces his whole state of mind on the remembered occasion — Richard Taylor > (2) : this power regarded as vested in an individual : an individual's capacity for reproducing or recalling what has been learned and retained < has a good memory for faces > < rely on the faulty memory of a cross section of people — S.L.Payne > < his memory annoyed him … it did not work willingly any more — Stuart Cloete > (3) : the process of reproducing or recalling what has been learned as manifested in some special way or as associated with some bodily process < visual memory > < muscular memory > b. : persistent modification of structure or of behavior resulting from an organism's activity or from its passively acquired experience c. (1) : the totality of what has been learned and retained especially as evidenced by recall and recognition < drew on his memory to supply the needed names > < even birds and animals have an ancestral memory — Horizon> (2) : the function of memory regarded as a compartment or chamber in which images, perceptions, or learning are stored < filling their memory with a lumber of words — R.L.Stevenson > < the invisible storehouse in nothingness, called memory — Walter Sorell & Denver Lindley > < retain in their memory the preceding movements — George Balanchine > < a richly stored memory > 3. a. (1) : commemorative remembrance < a statue erected in memory of the hero > < has been held in memory in Ireland — Maxwell Nurnberg & Morris Rosenblum > < a local museum dedicated to the memory of the celebrity — American Guide Series: Maine > (2) : a person or thing held in commemorative remembrance < his deeds are the country's proudest memories > b. : the fact or condition of being remembered < memory of such upheavals goes back to remote antiquity > < persecutions which were of recent memory — K.S.Latourette > 4. a. : a particular act of recalling something learned or experienced :the fact or a condition of recalling : remembrance , recollection , recall < woke with … complete memory of where she had been — Pearl Buck > < have no memory of that incident > < recited the poem from memory > b. (1) : an image, impression, or other mental trace of someone or something known or experienced : the content of something remembered < my first memory is one of being held up to a window — George Dangerfield > < the memory of his voice as distinct in her mind as it ever had been in her ear — Glenway Wescott > < pleasant memories of an Italian summer > < the memory of the captain's wife had not left him — Carson McCullers > < memories of the Japanese occupation … created a heritage of ill will — R.H.Fifield > < have written down their memory … of one such occasion — F.I.Cobb > < made the town's isolation a memory — American Guide Series: Texas > < the course is a memory and a mark is no longer even a ghost — Norman Nathan > < the depression is only a bad memory > (2) : the total impression or generalized image of a person preserved in remembrance, history, or tradition : posthumous opinion < this ruler left behind him golden memories > < a prince of glorious memory > (3) : the character, personality, or achievements of a person as preserved in remembrance < the man whose memory the Royal Irish Academy honors — Gearoid O'Sullivan > < his memory recalled the most wonderful and exciting … adventures — R.H.Davis > < hates her memory and all other women — Lucy M. Montgomery > c. : the time within which past events can be or are remembered < within the memory of living men > 5. : concentration 56. a. : a component in an electronic computing machine (as a computer) in which information (as data or program instructions) may be inserted and stored and from which it may be extracted when wanted b. : a device external to a computer for the insertion, storage, and extraction of information 7. a. : a capacity for showing effects recognized as the result of past treatment — used especially of materials < the wire begins to turn in the other direction corresponding to the first twisting — the memory of the recent short-term handling has been obliterated by that of the more remote but longer lasting and therefore more impressive one — Bernhard Gross > b. : a capacity for returning to a former condition (as after being stretched) — used especially of a material < the memory will cause the material to resume the shape it had when you purchased it — Road Magazine > Synonyms: remembrance , recollection , reminiscence , mind , souvenir : memory applies both to the faculty of remembering and to what is remembered, sometimes remembered dearly or cherished < a very good memory > < a memory training course > < it was the merest memory now, vague and a little sweet, like the remembrance of some exceptional spring day — John Galsworthy > remembrance can be the same as memory but more often refers to the act of remembering and usually to a particular act of remembering especially something pleasant or cherished in memory, or it may apply to the state of being remembered < the only moments I've lived my life to the full and that live in remembrance unfaded — W.W.Gibson > < the vivid remembrance of an almost identical setting one evening — Henry Miller > < the remembrance of things past — Shakespeare > < the remembrance of the event always brought a pang of regret > recollection is like remembrance but carries a strong suggestion of more voluntary and sometimes effortful recalling to mind, and it may apply to the thing remembered in this way < they have a tendency to forget the facts of the present in their fond recollection of the past — S.M.Crothers > < you ask me to put down a few recollections of your father — W.E.H.Lecky > reminiscence may refer to remembrance of something long past, especially as remembered casually and accidentally; it is closely synonymous with recollection in references to what is remembered < would use all the techniques of modern psychology in his analyses of the subconscious; the phenomena of involuntary reminiscence fascinate him — B.M.Woodbridge > < the author's own reminiscences of childhood and youth are a good deal less pretentious and more amusing than this model — Times Literary Supplement > mind in this sense commonly appears only in a few idiomatic phrases < to keep in mind > < out of sight, out of mind > souvenir may still be used as a synonym of memory < then she carefully restored them, her mind full of souvenirs newly awakened — Arnold Bennett > II. noun : capacity for storing information < 64 megabytes of memory > |
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