English
memory
Memory comes from Anglo-Norman memorie, from Latin memoria ‘memory’, from memor ‘mindful’, possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- ‘to remember’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-1‘to remember’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmemor1‘mindful, remembering’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmemoria1‘memory; remembrance’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400memorie1
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606memory1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English memory
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “These weeds are memories of those worser hours.”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-Wiktionary, English memory‘to remember’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmemorWiktionary, English memory‘mindful, remembering’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmemoriaWiktionary, English memory‘memory; remembrance’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400memorieWiktionary, English memory
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606memoryWiktionary, English memory. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “These weeds are memories of those worser hours.”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with memory, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- ‘to fall into thinking, remember, care for’
through Latin memor ‘mindful, remembering’
- remember ← remembren ← remembrer ← *rememorāre ← rememorari
through Latin memoria ‘the faculty of remembering, remembrance, memory, a historical account’
- memoir ← mémoire ← memoire ← memoire
24 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
noun The ability of the brain to record information or impressions with the facility of recalling them later, usually at will.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “memory”. 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- / memory