mnemonic

English

Alternative forms

• mnemonick (obsolete, rare)

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] New Latin mnemonicus, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek μνημονικός (mnēmonikós, “of memory”), from μνήμων (mnḗmōn, “remembering, mindful”), from μνᾶσθαι (mnâsthai, “to remember”), from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”); see mind.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nəˈmɒnɪk/
• 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

• Catalan: mnemònic
• Czech: mnemonický, mnemotechnický
• Dutch: mnemotechnisch, mnemonisch, ezelsbruggetje (nl) n
• Esperanto: mnemonika
• Finnish: muistitekninen
• French: mnémonique (fr), mnémotechnique (fr)
• Galician: mnemotécnico m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: mnemonisch (de)
• Portuguese: mnemónico (pt) (Portugal), mnemônico (pt) (Brazil), mnemotécnico
• Russian: мнемони́ческий (ru) m (mnemoníčeskij)
• Spanish: mnemotécnico (es)
• Swedish: mnemoteknisk
• Turkish: hatırlatıcı, anımsatıcı (tr)

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 (especially something in verbal form) 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
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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
• 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

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “mnemonic”, in Online Etymology Dictionary. [1]
• 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, →OCLC.