Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “memory” come from?

Memory derives from Old French memoire, from Latin memoria meaning "remembrance," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -h₂ through Latin -ia and Ancient Greek -ία.

memory (English): The ability of the brain to record information or...

Definitions

  1. The ability of the brain to record information or...

Ancestry of “memory”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchmemoirememory
2Latinmemoriamemory; the ability to remember; a remembrance, a...
3Latin-iaUsed to form a feminine abstract noun, usually...
4Latin-iusforming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter...
5Proto-Italic-jōsForms comparative adjectives
6Proto-Indo-European-yósCreates adjectives from noun or verb stems

Words derived from “memory”

  • memoryless
  • metamemory
  • memoried
  • nonmemory
  • memorist
  • pseudomemory
  • memorylessness
  • multimemory
  • memoryful
  • memory-ridden
  • memory hole
  • メモリ
  • 메모리
  • memori
  • memre
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -yós →