μνημονικός

Forms

μνημονῐκός (mnēmonikós) m (feminine μνημονῐκή, neuter μνημονῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek μνήμων (mnḗmōn, “remembering, mindful”) + -ικός (-ikós).^[1][2][3] The adjective μνήμων (mnḗmōn) comes from μνάομαι (mnáomai, “to remember”), from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”).^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The comic poets Cratinus and Aristophanes use it first, of a person with a good memory; in Aristophanes' Clouds Socrates asks Strepsiades whether he is good at remembering.^[5][2][6]

Semantic evolution

Xenophon and Aristotle used the neuter as a noun for the memory itself, and Plato and Xenophon for an art of memory; according to the Parian Marble this art was invented by Simonides.^[5][2] Aristotle distinguished people with a good memory from those good at recollection.^[5][7] Cicero used the word in Greek in his letters to Atticus for a slip of memory.^[5] In the magical papyri a rite for remembering is called by its feminine.^[8]

English formed mnemonic in 1753, either from a Latinized form of this word or as a back-formation from mnemonics.^[4] Modern Greek μνημονικός (mnimonikós) is a learned word for what concerns or aids memory, and its neuter means “memory”.^[9][10]

Timeline

• 5th century BC – Cratinus uses it of a person with a good memory.^[5][11]
• 5th–4th century BC – Aristophanes, Xenophon and Plato use it, Xenophon also of the memory itself.^[5][2]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle distinguishes good memory from good recollection.^[5][11]
• 1st century BC – A papyrus uses it of a document kept for the record.^[5]
• 1753 – English forms mnemonic.^[4]
• Modern Greek – It is a learned adjective for memory and what aids it.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having a good memory, good at memorising.^[5][2]
2. Of or for memory; as a neuter noun, the memory, or the art of memory, a mnemonic technique.^[5][2]
3. Serving as a record or reminder.^[5]

Related words

• μνήμων (mnḗmōn)
• English mnemonic

Usage notes

The adverb μνημονικῶς means “from a well-stored memory, accurately”, as in Xenophon, Plato and Demosthenes.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
3. ^ Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ Charbonnet, André (2025), Chæréphon, v4.7: supplement to Bailly from papyri, inscriptions and recent lexica
8. ^ Muñoz Delgado, Luis (2001), Léxico de magia y religión en los papiros mágicos griegos, Madrid: CSIC
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ Πάπυρος–Larousse–Britannica, Μέγα Λεξικό της Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, Athens: Πάπυρος
11. ^ a b Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge