Remembrance

How to spell remembrance

11 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce remembrance

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does remembrance mean?

1. nounThe act of remembering someone or something, or the state of being kept in memory, often in a respectful or ceremonial way.

Remembrance in a sentence

• The town holds a service of remembrance each November for those who died in the war.

• She kept her grandmother's ring in remembrance of the holidays they spent together.

Where does remembrance come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English in the 1300s from Old French remembrance, the noun built on the verb remembrer, meaning 'to call to mind'. That French verb descended from Late Latin rememorari, formed from the prefix re-, here giving a sense of 'again', joined to memorari, 'to be mindful', which itself rests on the Latin adjective memor, meaning 'mindful' or 'remembering'. The same memor root sits inside familiar relatives such as 'memory', 'memorial' and 'commemorate', all circling the idea of holding something in mind. A useful point for spellers is that English kept the French-style contracted shape, so the verb 'remember' has its middle 'e', but the noun drops it: it is rememb-r-ance, not 'rememberance'. The word has long carried both the plain sense of recalling and the more solemn sense of honouring the dead, which is why it anchors the name Remembrance Day.

How the word is built

• re- (again)
• membr- (from Latin memor: mindful)
• -ance (noun-forming suffix)