memorial English · revision 5414

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1374|origins=la memoria}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /məˈmɔː.ri.əl/, /mɪˈmɔː.ri.əl/, US /məˈmɔːr.i.əl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|memorial]], [[bor|fro|memorial|t=mindful of; record, report]] and directly from [[la|memoriālis|t=of or belonging to memory]], with the noun from [[la-lat|memoriāle|t=a reminder, record, monument]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) from [[m|la|memoria|t=memory]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*(s)mer-|t=to remember]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[memory]] and [[memorable]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The adjective, preserving the memory of a person or thing: about 1374 in the OED, about 1375 in Chaucer's Anelida and Arcite according to Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) The noun, a commemorative act or the faculty of memory, is from before 1382 in the Wycliffe Bible.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the late 14th century the adjective also meant “memorable, excellent” and “remembered”,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the noun “fame, renown”.^(Etymonline) The monument or rite by which the memory of a person or event is kept is from the late 14th century.^(Etymonline) So is a written statement of facts presented to a legislature as the grounds for a petition,^(Etymonline)^(AHD) which gave the verb “to petition” in the 18th century.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) Middle English also had memorative “having to do with memory”, which did not survive.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1374 – commemorative.^(OED 1989)

+ * a. 1382 – noun, a commemorative act.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * late 14th century – a monument; a petition.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1768 – verb, to petition.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something, such as a [[monument]] or a holiday, that honours the memory of a person or event.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A written statement of facts sent to a government or authority with a [[petition]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Serving to remember a person or event: ''a memorial service''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Relating to memory.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[memorially]]

+ * [[memorialise]]

+ * [[memorialist]]

+ * [[memorialize]]

+ * [[memorial park]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[memory]]

+ * [[memorable]]

+ * [[memorize]]

+ * [[commemorate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}