reminiscence

See also: réminiscence

English

Etymology

From Late Latin reminīscentiae (“remembrances”), from Latin reminīscēns, present active participle of reminīscor (“remember”); see reminiscent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɹɛm.əˈnɪs.əns/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛns

Noun

reminiscence (countable and uncountable, plural reminiscences)

1. An act of remembering long-past experiences, especially positive or pleasant ones, often fondly.
   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     Here was my chance. I took the old man aside, and two or three glasses of Old Crow launched him into reminiscence.

2. A mental image thus remembered.
   • 2024 September 11, Richard Brody, ““Winner” Takes Political Comedy Seriously”, in The New Yorker‎^[1], archived from the original on 20 September 2024:

     Fogel, working with a script by the journalist Kerry Howley, follows Winner from the age of nine to the aftermath of her plea, and organizes the movie around voice-over reminiscences by Reality (the character is played by Emilia Jones).

Synonyms

• recall
• recollection

Coordinate terms

• flashback - memory of trauma

Derived terms

• pseudoreminiscence
• reminiscenceful
• reminiscencer

Related terms

• reminiscent
• reminiscential

Translations

act of remembering

• Belarusian: успамі́н m (uspamín)
• Bengali: স্মৃতিচারণ (bn) (smriticaron)
• Bulgarian: спо́мен (bg) m (spómen)
• Finnish: muistelu (fi)
• German: Erinnern n
• Greek: ανάμνηση (el) f (anámnisi)
• Māori: manaka, mānakanaka, pūmaharatanga, hokinga mahara
• Polish: reminiscencja (pl) f
• Romanian: reamintire (ro) f
• Russian: воспомина́ние (ru) n (vospominánije), (literary) реминисце́нция (ru) f (reminiscéncija)
• Scottish Gaelic: cuimhneachadh m
• Spanish: reminiscencia (es) f, rememoración (es) f
• Ukrainian: спо́мин m (spómyn), спо́гад m (spóhad)

mental image

• Belarusian: успамі́н m (uspamín)
• Bulgarian: спо́мен (bg) m (spómen)
• Dutch: herinnering (nl) f
• Finnish: muistikuva, muistuma, muisto (fi)
• French: réminiscence (fr) f
• German: Erinnerung (de) f, Erinnerungen (de) pl f, Rückerinnerung f, Reminiszenz (de) f
• Greek: ανάμνηση (el) f (anámnisi)
• Italian: reminiscenza (it) f
• Māori: pūmaharatanga
• Polish: wspomnienie (pl) n
• Romanian: reminiscență (ro) f, amintire (ro) f
• Russian: воспомина́ние (ru) n (vospominánije)
• Scottish Gaelic: cuimhneachadh m
• Spanish: reminiscencia (es) f, remembranza f
• Ukrainian: спо́мин m (spómyn), спо́гад m (spóhad)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} réminiscence (fr) m
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} یاد (yad)

• Latin: ^{(please verify)} recordatio f, ^{(please verify)} memoria f

See also

• nostalgia

Further reading

• “reminiscence”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “reminiscence”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.