Etymograph

English

remember

Remember comes from Middle English remembren, from Old French remembrer, from Late Latin rememorari ‘to remember again’, from re- + memor ‘mindful’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-1‘to think about, be mindful, remember’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmemor1‘mindful’
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CErememorari1‘to remember again’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400remembrer1‘to remember’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500remembren1‘to remember’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611remember1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English remember
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “Since thou dost give me pains, / Let me…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-Wiktionary, English remember‘to think about, be mindful, remember’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmemorWiktionary, English remember‘mindful’
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CErememorariWiktionary, English remember‘to remember again’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400remembrerWiktionary, English remember‘to remember’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500remembrenWiktionary, English remember‘to remember’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611rememberWiktionary, English remember. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “Since thou dost give me pains, / Let me…”

The story

The success of the Old French word was helped by its proximity in sound and meaning to an existing Germanic word: Old English mimorian, mymerian (‘to remember, commemorate’) from Proto-Germanic *mimrōną, *mīmrōną (‘to remember, be mindful’), from the same Indo-European source, and is akin to Saterland Frisian miemerje (‘to ponder, reflect’), Middle Low German mimeren (‘to ponder, meditate’), Middle Dutch mimeren (‘to reflect, think to oneself’) (Dutch mijmeren (‘to muse, reflect deeply’)), Old English ġemimor (‘mindful’), Old Norse Mímir, Mim (‘Norse god of memory’), Old English māmrian (‘to think out, design’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’

march, murder, marine, nightmare, mortality, marsh, mortal, maritime, mortar, mara, moor, mare, mere, morbid, muller, mort, morn, marinate, moribund, marinara, ambrosia, maar, cormorant, 62 more

through Late Latin memor ‘mindful’

memory, memorable, memoir, memoria, 3 more

Today it means

verb To recall from one's memory; to have an image in one's memory.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “remember”. 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- / remember

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