English
memorandum
Memorandum comes from Latin memorandus ‘to be remembered’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-1‘to fall into thinking, remember, care for’next step skipped: Latin memorō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmemorandus1‘to be remembered’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmemorandum1neuter of memorandus
- Englishearliest quotation 1821memorandum1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English memorandum
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1821, Thomas De Quincey: “....be more difficult or uncertain than it had been…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-Wiktionary, English memorandum‘to fall into thinking, remember, care for’next step skipped: Latin memorō
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmemorandusWiktionary, English memorandum‘to be remembered’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmemorandumWiktionary, English memorandumneuter of memorandus
- Englishearliest quotation 1821memorandumWiktionary, English memorandum. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1821, Thomas De Quincey: “....be more difficult or uncertain than it had been…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- ‘to fall into thinking, remember, care for’
merit, martyr, memoir, mourn, mer, memorabilia, moratorium, mora, 17 more
Today it means
noun A short note serving as a reminder.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “memorandum”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- / memorandum