mnemonic

English

Alternative forms

• mnemonick (obsolete, rare)

Etymology

From Latin mnēmonicus, from Ancient Greek μνημονικός (mnēmonikós, “of memory”), from μνήμων (mnḗmōn, “remembering, mindful”), from μνάομαι (mnáomai, “to remember”), from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”); see mind.

Pronunciation

• (General Australian, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /nəˈmɒnɪk/
• (US) IPA^(key): /nəˈmɑːnɪk/, /niˈmɑːnɪk/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

mnemonic (not comparable)

1. Of or relating to mnemonics: the study of techniques for remembering anything more easily.
2. Of or relating to memory.

Translations

related to mnemonics

• Bulgarian: мнемоничен (mnemoničen)
• Catalan: mnemònic
• Czech: mnemonický, mnemotechnický
• Dutch: mnemotechnisch (nl), mnemonisch, ezelsbruggetje (nl) n
• Esperanto: mnemonika
• Finnish: muistitekninen
• French: mnémonique (fr), mnémotechnique (fr)
• Galician: mnemotécnico m

• German: mnemonisch (de)
• Portuguese: mnemónico (pt) (Portugal), mnemônico (pt) (Brazil), mnemotécnico
• Russian: мнемони́ческий (ru) m (mnemoníčeskij)
• Serbo-Croatian: mnemonički m
• Spanish: mnemotécnico (es)
• Swedish: mnemoteknisk
• Turkish: hatırlatıcı, anımsatıcı (tr)

of or relating to memory

• Finnish: muisti-

Noun

mnemonic (plural mnemonics)

1. Anything (especially something in verbal form) used to help remember something.

   To remember the colours of the rainbow, use the mnemonic "Richard of York gave battle in vain" (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet).

   • 2003, Alex Kimbell, The Unbridgeable Divide (page 54)

     Mr Avery was a great believer in mnemonics; he had one for every possible aspect of flying – which was as good a way as any for student pilots to familiarise themselves with their new environment […]

2. (computing) The textual, human-readable form of an assembly language instruction, not including operands.

Synonyms

• aide-mémoire

Derived terms

• neuro-mnemonic

Translations

anything used to help remember something

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: ezelsbruggetje (nl) n, geheugensteuntje (nl), mnemotechniek
• Esperanto: mnemoniko
• Finnish: muistisääntö (fi)
• French: mnémonique (fr), mnémotechnie (fr), mnémotechnique (fr) f
• German: Eselsbrücke (de) f, Merkhilfe f

• Indonesian: jembatan keledai (id)
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: 語呂合わせ (ごろあわせ, goroawase)
• Polish: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: mnemónico (pt) m (Portugal), mnemônico (pt) m (Brazil)
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Scottish Gaelic: cuimhneachan m
• Serbo-Croatian: mnemotehnika (sh) f
• Spanish: mnemotecnia (es) f, mnemotécnica (es) f
• Swedish: memoreringsteknik c, minnesregel (sv) c
• Thai: please add this translation if you can

Related terms

• mnemonics
• mnemonize
• mnemotechny
• mnemotechnic
• mnemotechnical

See also

• Mnemosyne, mother of the Muses, who personified Memory in Greek mythology.
• crib
• not to be confused with pneumonic

References

• “mnemonic” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2021.
• Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, Springfield, Massachusetts, G.&C. Merriam Co., 1967
• mnemonic in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.