memory

/ˈmɛməri/

/ˈmɛmɔri/

Other forms: memories

Memory is the power to retain and recall information and past experiences. Your brain's memory helps you recall lots of memories — like multiplication tables and bad dates.

The word memory applies to both the individual facts and experiences you remember as well as the brain's ability to contain it all. A good memory for names means you retain someone's name. But a good memory of your summer job means that you had fun while working at the Jiffy Lube. Memory has also come to refer to a computer's capacity to store information. As far as we know, however, computers do not have fond memories of their past programs.

Definitions of memory

1. noun

   the cognitive processes whereby past experience is remembered
   “he can do it from memory”

   synonyms: remembering

   types:

   STM, immediate memory, short-term memory

   what you can repeat immediately after perceiving it

   working memory

   memory for intermediate results that must be held during thinking

   LTM, long-term memory

   your general store of remembered information

   retrieval

   the mental process of accessing information stored in one's memory

   recall, recollection, reminiscence

   the process of remembering (especially the process of recovering information by mental effort)

   identification, recognition

   the process of recognizing something or someone by remembering

   association, connection, connexion

   the process of bringing ideas or events together in memory or imagination

   retrospection

   memory for experiences that are past

   episodic memory, personal memory

   memory for episodes in your own life

   semantic memory

   your memory for meanings and general (impersonal) facts

   motor memory, muscle memory

   your memory for motor skills

   mind

   recall or remembrance

   reconstruction, reconstructive memory

   recall that is hypothesized to work by storing abstract features which are then used to construct the memory during recall

   reproduction, reproductive memory

   recall that is hypothesized to work by storing the original stimulus input and reproducing it during recall

   regurgitation

   recall after rote memorization

   identity

   the individual characteristics by which a thing or person is recognized or known

   speaker identification, talker identification

   identification of a person from the sound of their voice

   colligation

   the connection of isolated facts by a general hypothesis

   type of:

   basic cognitive process

   cognitive processes involved in obtaining and storing knowledge
2. noun

   the power of retaining and recalling past experience
   “he had a good memory when he was younger”

   synonyms: retention, retentiveness, retentivity

   types:

   anamnesis, recollection, remembrance

   the ability to recall past occurrences

   type of:

   faculty, mental faculty, module

   one of the inherent cognitive or perceptual powers of the mind
3. noun

   something that is remembered
   “search as he would, the memory was lost”

   types:

   reminiscence

   a mental impression retained and recalled from the past

   recollection

   something recalled to the mind

   engram, memory trace

   a postulated biochemical change (presumably in neural tissue) that represents a memory

   confabulation

   (psychiatry) a plausible but imagined memory that fills in gaps in what is remembered

   screen memory

   an imagined memory of a childhood experience; hides another memory of distressing significance

   type of:

   internal representation, mental representation, representation

   a presentation to the mind in the form of an idea or image
4. noun

   the area of cognitive psychology that studies memory processes
   “he taught a graduate course on learning and memory”

   type of:

   cognitive psychology

   an approach to psychology that emphasizes internal mental processes
5. noun

   an electronic memory device
   “a memory and the CPU form the central part of a computer to which peripherals are attached”

   synonyms: computer memory, computer storage, memory board, storage, store

   types:

   non-volatile storage, nonvolatile storage

   computer storage that is not lost when the power is turned off

   ROM, fixed storage, read-only memory, read-only storage

   (computer science) memory whose contents can be accessed and read but cannot be changed

   real storage

   the main memory in a virtual memory system

   scratchpad

   (computer science) a high-speed internal memory used for temporary storage of preliminary information

   virtual memory, virtual storage

   (computer science) memory created by using the hard disk to simulate additional random-access memory; the addressable storage space available to the user of a computer system in which virtual addresses are mapped into real addresses

   volatile storage

   computer storage that is erased when the power is turned off

   CD-ROM, compact disc read-only memory

   a compact disk that is used with a computer (rather than with an audio system); a large amount of digital information can be stored and accessed but it cannot be altered by the user

   EPROM, erasable programmable read-only memory

   (computer science) a read-only memory chip that can be erased by ultraviolet light and programmed again with new data

   flash memory

   nonvolatile storage that can be electrically erased and programmed anew

   magnetic bubble memory

   a nonvolatile storage device that holds information in the form of bubbles on a thin film of magnetic silicate; no longer used in most computers

   RAM, random access memory, random memory, random-access memory, read/write memory

   the most common computer memory which can be used by programs to perform necessary tasks while the computer is on; an integrated circuit memory chip allows information to be stored or accessed in any order and all storage locations are equally accessible

   type of:

   computer hardware, hardware

   (computer science) the mechanical, magnetic, electronic, and electrical components making up a computer system

   memory device, storage device

   a device that preserves information for retrieval