memorable

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmem.ər.ə.bəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French mémorable, a learned borrowing of Latin memorābilis, worth remembering,^[2][3][4] from memorāre, to bring to mind, from memor, mindful (see memory).^[2][3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Worth remembering, not to be forgotten: 1436 in Barnhart, the mid-15th century in Etymonline, 1483 in the OED.^[2][3][6]

Semantic evolution

Easy to remember is from 1599, a rare sense then.^[6] The plural noun memorables, things worth remembering, is from 1611, in the sense of memorabilia.^[6] Memorably and memorableness are from the 18th century in the OED.^[6]

Timeline

• 1436 – worth remembering.^[2]
• 1599 – easy to remember.^[6]
• 1611 – memorables (noun).^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Worth remembering; remarkable: a memorable evening.
2. Easily remembered.

Word family

• memorability
• memorably
• memorableness
• unmemorable

Related words

• memory
• memorial
• memorabilia
• remember
• memoir

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press