commemorate

English

Etymology

First attested in 1599; borrowed from Latin commemorātus, perfect passive participle of commemorō, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Sporadic usage of the adjective up until Early Modern English.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kəˈmɛməˌɹeɪt/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Verb

commemorate (third-person singular simple present commemorates, present participle commemorating, simple past and past participle commemorated)

1. (transitive) To honour the memory of someone or something with a ceremony or object.

   Synonym: memorialize

   On November 11th we commemorate the fallen with a march.

   • 2009, Naava Piatka, No Goodbyes: A Father-Daughter Memoir of Love, War and Resurrection, page 98:

     On the anniversary of Korczak's murder, Israel commemorated him with a special postal issue. As a stamp collector and philatelic columnist, it pleased me greatly when other countries followed Israel's example in honoring him.

2. (transitive) To serve as a memorial to someone or something.

   The cenotaph commemorates the fallen.

Derived terms

• decommemorate
• uncommemorated

Translations

to honor the memory of someone or something

• Azerbaijani: anmaq
• Bulgarian: отбелязвам годишнина (otbeljazvam godišnina)
• Catalan: commemorar (ca)
• Dutch: herdenken (nl)
• Finnish: muistella (fi)
• French: commémorer (fr)
• Galician: conmemorar (gl)
• German: gedenken (de)
• Greek: εορτάζω τη μνήμη (eortázo ti mními)
• Hungarian: megemlékezik (hu)
• Indonesian: memperingati (id)
• Italian: commemorare (it)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بیرەوەریی کردن (bîrewerîy kirdin)

• Maori: whakamahara
• Polish: uczcić pamięć pf
• Portuguese: comemorar (pt)
• Russian: чтить (ru) impf (čtitʹ), почти́ть (ru) pf (počtítʹ)
• Spanish: conmemorar (es)
• Swedish: högtidlighålla (sv)
• Vietnamese: kỷ niệm (vi), tưởng nhớ (vi)

to serve as memorial to someone or something

• Bulgarian: напомням (bg) (napomnjam)
• French: commémorer (fr)
• Galician: conmemorar (gl)
• German: erinnern an
• Hungarian: emlékét őrzi
• Italian: commemorare (it)
• Polish: upamiętniać (pl) impf, upamiętnić (pl) pf
• Russian: ознамено́вывать (ru) impf (oznamenóvyvatʹ), ознаменова́ть (ru) pf (oznamenovátʹ)

Adjective

commemorate (comparative more commemorate, superlative most commemorate)

1. (obsolete, rare, as a participle) Commemorated.
   • 1671, Robert MacWard, The True Non-Conformist..., line 274:

     In almost all the Psalms of praise, we find the preceding distress and afflictions […] first pathetically commemorat.

Related terms

• commemorabilia
• commemoration
• commemorative
• commemorator
• commemoratory
• memorial
• memory

See also

• admonish
• mantra
• memento
• memento mori
• memo
• memorable
• mention
• mind
• mint
• mnemonic
• Mnemosyne
• money
• monition
• reminisce

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

commemorate

1. inflection of commemorare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

commemorate f pl

1. feminine plural of commemorato

Latin

Verb

commemorāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of commemorō