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memoir

- 4 dictionary results

mem⋅oir

  [mem-wahr, -wawr]
Use memoir in a Sentence
–noun
1. a record of events written by a person having intimate knowledge of them and based on personal observation.
2. Usually, memoirs.
a. an account of one's personal life and experiences; autobiography.
b. the published record of the proceedings of a group or organization, as of a learned society.
3. a biography or biographical sketch.
Origin:
1560–70; < F mémoire < L memoria; see memory

Synonyms:
2a. journal, recollections, reminiscences.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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mem·oir   (měm'wär', -wôr')   
n.  
  1. An account of the personal experiences of an author.
  2. An autobiography. Often used in the plural.
  3. A biography or biographical sketch.
  4. A report, especially on a scientific or scholarly topic.
  5. memoirs The report of the proceedings of a learned society.

[French mémoire, from Old French memoire, memory, from Latin memoria; see memory.]
mem'oir·ist n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Memoir

Mem"oir\, or pl. Memoirs \Mem"oirs\, n. [F. m['e]moire, m., memorandum, fr. m['e]moire, f., memory, L. memoria. See Memory.]

1. A memorial account; a history composed from personal experience and memory; an account of transactions or events (usually written in familiar style) as they are remembered by the writer. See History, 2.

2. A memorial of any individual; a biography; often, a biography written without special regard to method and completeness.

3. An account of something deemed noteworthy; an essay; a record of investigations of any subject; the journals and proceedings of a society.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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memoir 
1567, from Anglo-Fr. memorie "note, memorandum, something written to be kept in mind" (1427), from L. memoria (see memory). Meaning "person's written account of his life" is from 1673. The pl. form memoirs "personal record of events," first recorded 1659.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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