memory: Meaning and Definition of

mem•o•ry

Pronunciation: (mem'u-rē), [key]
— pl. -ries.
  1. the mental capacity or faculty of retaining and reviving facts, events, impressions, etc., or of recalling or recognizing previous experiences.
  2. this faculty as possessed by a particular individual: to have a good memory.
  3. the act or fact of retaining and recalling impressions, facts, etc.; remembrance; recollection: to draw from memory.
  4. the length of time over which recollection extends: a time within the memory of living persons.
  5. a mental impression retained; a recollection: one's earliest memories.
  6. the reputation of a person or thing, esp. after death; fame: a ruler of beloved memory.
  7. the state or fact of being remembered.
  8. a person, thing, event, fact, etc., remembered.
  9. commemorative remembrance; commemoration: a monument in memory of Columbus.
  10. the ability of certain materials to return to an original shape after deformation.
  11. Also called
    1. the capacity of a computer to store information subject to recall.
    2. the components of the computer in which such information is stored.
  12. the step in the classical preparation of a speech in which the wording is memorized.
  13. concentration (def. 7).
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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