remember

Definition

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

Etymology

From Middle English remembren, from Old French remembrer (“to remember”), from Late Latin rememorari (“to remember again”), from re- + memor (“mindful”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer-, *(s)mer- (“to think about, be mindful, remember”). Cognate with Old English mimorian, mymerian (“to remember, commemorate”), Old English māmorian (“to deliberate, plan out, design”). More at mammer. etymology note 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”). Related to mourn. Displaced native Middle English ȝemuneȝen (“to remember”), from Old English ġemynegian (“to remember, remind”); Middle English minnen (“to remember, have in mind”), from Old Norse minna (“to remind”); Middle English munden, ȝemunden (“to bear in mind, remember”), from Old English ġemynd (“memory, remembrance”); Middle English ithenchen, ȝethenchen (“to think on, remember”), from Old English ġeþencan; Middle English manien (“to remind, mention, remember”), from Old English manian (“to admonish, remind, mention”).

Example Sentences

• "In the lightness of my heart I sang catches of songs as my horse gayly bore me along the well-remembered road."
• "[…] I remember a lady coming to inspect St. Mary's Home where I was brought up and seeing us all in our lovely Elizabethan uniforms we were so proud of, and bursting into tears all over us because “it was wicked to dress us like charity children”."
• "A man's vision reflects his memories. As I looked out on the nation from the President's Oval Office, my reflections included images burned deep in my mind for over a half a century. I remembered my father's concern for the tenant farmer and for the workers' need for collective bargaining. I remembered my mother's deep faith in the value of education. I remembered the pinched and hopeless look of poverty I saw on the faces of the Mexican-American children I had taught. I remembered the army of jobless and ragged men who rode grimy boxcars across our country during the Depression. These and a hundred other separate recollections of struggle and hope were all part of my heritage. They formed a portion of the background against which I developed the programs I felt America wanted and needed."

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