DictionaryAI

memory

noun
MEM-uh-ree/ˈmɛm.ə.ɹi/

Pluralmemories

9 meanings of memory

Practice

  1. 1
    thing recallednouncountable or uncountable
    A stored record of a thing or event, kept by an organism and available for later use.

    The smell of fresh bread brought back a memory of her grandmother's kitchen.

    He shared a fond memory from his childhood on the farm.

    UsageSay a memory of something, often with happy or fond: fond memories of a trip.

    Similarrecollection

  2. 2
    ability to recallnoununcountable
    The brain's ability to record information or impressions and recall them later, usually at will.

    His memory for dates is remarkable, even decades after the events.

    Years of daily practice sharpened her memory for long passages of music.

    UsageYou have a good memory for names or dates; for the things remembered, memories is the usual word.

    Similarrecall

  3. 3
    computer storagenouncountable or uncountable
    The part of a computer that stores variable code or data (RAM) or fixed code and default data (ROM).

    This laptop has enough memory to run several large programs at once.

    The editing software kept crashing because the machine was short on memory.

    UsageGive amounts in units, as in 16 GB of memory. A device can run out of memory.

    Note

    Computing took the word for whatever holds a machine's code and data, and older technical writing called the same thing core, a term now dated. Jerry Pournelle's 1987 column on the "Law of Expanding Memory" shows how fast such figures age: he once thought 64K was all the memory he would ever need.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • In computing, memory stores a machine's code and data. en.wikipedia.org
    • Core is an older, dated synonym for computer memory. en.wikipedia.org
    • Jerry Pournelle's 1987 column “Law of Expanding Memory” recalled his belief that 64K would supply all the memory he would ever need. en.wiktionary.org
  4. 4
    how far backnouncountable or uncountable
    The span of past time over which events are or can be recalled.

    It was the coldest winter in living memory.

    Such a flood had not struck the valley within memory.

    UsageMostly in in living memory, in recent memory and within memory, often after a superlative: the coldest winter in living memory.

    Note

    Living memory reaches back as far as people still alive can recall, while recent memory covers a shorter, vaguer stretch.

  5. 5
    return to shapenouncountable or uncountablebefore a noun
    The property by which certain materials return to their original shape after being deformed, often when heated or once pressure is removed.

    When the bent wire was heated, its memory pulled it back into a perfect coil.

    The wire's memory lets it spring back into shape after being bent.

    UsageCommon in compounds such as memory foam, memory metal, and shape memory.

    Note

    The image is of a material that "remembers" the shape it started with and goes back to it, often when heated or once pressure is lifted.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Certain materials recover their original shape when heated after deformation. nasa.gov
    • Certain materials recover their previous shape when the deforming pressure is removed. ocw.mit.edu
  6. 6
    noununcountable
    The keeping in mind of someone who has died, most often met in the phrase in memory of.

    The scholarship was set up in memory of a teacher who died last spring.

    Before kickoff, the crowd stood for a minute of silence in her memory.

    Similarremembrance, commemoration

    Note

    The wording of benches, plaques, scholarships and headstones: in memory of, or with a possessive, in her memory. It tells the reader that the person has died, which is what separates it from in honor of, a phrase that can honor the living too; choose carefully on a dedication. Headstones often warm it to in loving memory of.

Less common meanings

  1. 7
    monumentnounobsoletecountable or uncountable
    A monument or other object that preserves the remembrance of a person or event.
    These weeds are memories of those worser hours.
    c. 1603, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”
    Note

    The monument sense has dropped out of English, and memorial now does its work. Shakespeare's King Lear (1608) still has it: "These weeds are memories of those worser hours," where the weeds are the clothes of Kent's disguise, now reminders of worse times.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  2. 8
    card gamenouncountable or uncountable
    A matching game played with a layout of face-down cards, in which players turn two at a time and rely on recall to find pairs.

    We played memory after dinner, and the youngest kept finding the pairs first.

    She beat everyone at memory by recalling exactly where each card had been placed.

    UsageYou play memory; in writing it is often the memory game, sometimes with a capital, Memory.

    Similarconcentration, pelmanism

    Note

    The card game is also called pelmanism, and the game tests exactly the faculty it is named for.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  3. 9
    nounrarecollectivecountable or uncountable
    A collective name for a social group of elephants, which is normally called a herd.

    Similarherd

    Note

    Zoology knows this one only as a term of venery, a fanciful collective noun, and a rare one at that.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of memory apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

It comes through Anglo-Norman memorie and Old French memoire from Latin memoria ("the faculty of remembering, memory, a historical account"), from memor ("mindful, remembering"). It probably traces back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to remember" and is a doublet of memoir.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts