Remember

How to spell remember

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce remember

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does remember mean?

1. verbTo bring back to mind something learned, experienced, or known in the past.

Remember in a sentence

• She could still remember her first phone number from childhood.

• Please remember to lock the office door before you leave.

Where does remember come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This verb comes from the Latin rememorari, which meant 'to call to mind again', built from the prefix re- 'again' and memor, an adjective meaning 'mindful' or 'remembering'. That same memor root lies behind a whole family of English words about the mind, including 'memory', 'memorial', and 'commemorate'. Latin passed the word into Old French as remembrer, and English borrowed it during the 1300s. The spelling trap sits in the unstressed middle and end: writers hear two faint schwa sounds and sometimes drop the first 'e' or muddle the 'mem' and 'ber', yet the word is simply re- attached to the memor root, which keeps the vowels honest. Picture 'member' inside it, since a thing you remember is a member of your memory.

How the word is built

• re- (again)
• member (from Latin memor: mindful)