| arch•memory 1arch- Function: prefix Etymology: Middle English arche-, arch-, from Old English & Old French; Old English arce-, from Late Latin arch- & Latin archi-; Old French arch-, from Late Latin arch- & Latin archi-, from Greek arch-, archi-, from archein to begin, rule; akin to Greek archE beginning, rule, archos ruler 1 : chief : principal <archfiend> 2 : extreme : most fully embodying the qualities of the kind <archconservative> arch Function: abbreviation archaic, archery, architect, architectural, architecture mem•o•ry Pronunciation: 'mem-rE, 'me-m&- Function: noun Inflected Form(s): plural -ries Etymology: Middle English memorie, from Middle French memoire, from Latin memoria, from memor mindful; akin to Old English gemimor well-known, Greek mermEra care, Sanskrit smarati he remembers Date: 14th century 1 a : the power or process of reproducing or recalling what has been learned and retained especially through associative mechanisms b : the store of things learned and retained from an organism's activity or experience as evidenced by modification of structure or behavior or by recall and recognition 2 a : commemorative remembrance <erected a statue in memory of the hero> b : the fact or condition of being remembered <days of recent memory> 3 a : a particular act of recall or recollection b : an image or impression of one that is remembered <fond memories of her youth> c : the time within which past events can be or are remembered <within the memory of living men> 4 a : a device or a component of a device in which information especially for a computer can be inserted and stored and from which it may be extracted when wanted b : capacity for storing information <four megabytes of memory> 5 : a capacity for showing effects as the result of past treatment or for returning to a former condition -- used especially of a material (as metal or plastic) |