mémoire French · revision 16579

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis (memorie)|origins=la memor}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /me.mwaʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mémoire''' ''f'' (plural mémoires)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''memorie'' (about 1050), ''memoire'' (about 1138).^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) The spelling ''mé-'' dates from the Académie of 1740.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|memoria|t=ability to remember; memory; record of the past]], from [[m|la|memor|t=mindful, remembering]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|6/1, 698a) Rey and the Petit Robert relate “memor” to the Indo-European root [[ine-pro|*(s)mer-|t=to remember, care for]], as in [[sa|स्मरति|tr=smárati|t=he remembers]], [[got|𐌼𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌽𐌰𐌽|tr=maurnan|t=to be anxious]] and [[en|mourn]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ The masculine “mémoire” “written statement” was taken from the feminine noun, as a writing made so that the memory of something is kept, Bloch and Wartburg date it to 1320.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) has ''avoir en memorie'', “to keep in mind”, of the collective memory of a saint.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 12th century it meant the act of remembering someone (''faire memoire de'', about 1135), lasting fame (first half of the 12th century) and the faculty of remembering (Wace, about 1170).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Phrases followed: ''de bonne mémoire'' (1260), ''par mémoire'' “by heart” (late 13th century, later ''de mémoire'', 1671), ''de mémoire d'homme'' (about 1420) and ''à la mémoire de'' on epitaphs.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The masculine ''mémoire'' (Grand Robert: about 1160, Bloch and Wartburg: 1320) named a written statement, a lawyer's brief, a bill, and in the plural (''Mémoires'') a personal account of events.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) Computing took the word for the device that stores data in 1951, after [[en|memory]], ''mémoire vive'' and ''mémoire morte'' followed.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Avoir en memorie'', ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1135 – ''Faire memoire de'', Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1170 – The faculty of remembering, Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 1260 – ''De bone mémoire''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1320 – The masculine noun “written statement”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1655 – Liturgical ''faire mémoire de'', Bossuet.^(TLFi)

+ * 1951 – Computer memory, Louis de Broglie.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(feminine)'' [[m|en|memory]], the faculty of remembering: ''avoir de la mémoire'', ''de mémoire'', from memory, ''trou de mémoire'', a memory lapse.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(feminine)'' Remembrance of someone or something: ''à la mémoire de'', ''de sinistre mémoire'', ''de mémoire d'homme'', within living memory.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(feminine, computing)'' Memory: ''mémoire vive'', RAM, ''mémoire morte'', ROM.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(masculine)'' A written statement or report; a [[m|en|dissertation]]: ''mémoire de maîtrise''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(masculine, law)'' A [[m|en|brief]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(masculine, dated)'' A bill, account of sums owed.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(masculine plural)'' ''Mémoires'': [[m|en|memoir|alt=memoirs]].^(Wiktionary)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mémorable]]

+ * [[mémorial]]

+ * [[mémoriser]]

+ * [[remémorer]]

+ * [[immémorial]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[commémorer]]

+ * [[la|memoria]]

+ * [[en|memoir]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The feminine (faculty, remembrance) and masculine (written statement) nouns are one word in origin; the Grand Robert and Littré list them separately.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}