Webster's English Dictionary

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memory

mem.o.ry \'mem-(*-)re-\ n [ME memorie, fr. MF memoire, fr. L memoria, fr. 
   memor m]indful; akin to OE mimorian to remember, L mora delay, Gk merme-ra 
   care, Skt smarati he remembers 1a: the power or process of reproducing or 
   recalling what has been learned  and retained esp. through associative 
   mechanisms 1b: persistent modification of structure or behavior resulting 
   from an orga nism's activity or experience 1c: the store of things learned 
   and retained as evidenced by recall and rec ognition 2a: commemorative 
   remembrance  2b: the fact or condition of being remembered  3a: a 
   particular act of recall or recollection  3b: an image or impression of 
   someone or something remembered  3c: the time within which past events can 
   be or are remembered  4: a component in an electronic computing machine 
   into which information ca n be inserted, stored, and extracted when needed 
   applies both to the power of remembering and to what is remembered; 
   REMEMBRANCE applies to the act of remembering or the fact of being 
   remembered; RECOLLECTION adds an implication of consciously bringing back 
   to mind often with some effort; REMINISCENCE suggests the recalling of 
   incidents, experience, or feelings from a remote past SYN syn REMEMBRANCE, 
   RECOLLECTION, REMINISCENCE; MEMORY