Mind & EmotionGreek → English
Mnemonic
/nɪˈmɒnɪk/noun
A device or pattern that makes something easier to remember.
The Greek roots
μνήμη
mnḗmē
memory
μνημονικός
mnēmonikós
of memory
Literally: “belonging to memory”
The story of the word
Mnemosyne, memory herself, was the mother of the nine Muses by Zeus, which makes every art in the Greek scheme a child of remembering. Simonides is credited with the first memory system after he identified guests crushed in a collapsed banquet hall by recalling where each had been sitting. The silent m at the front of the English word is the Greek μ, still written and no longer said.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 18th century
Same family
amnesiaamnestymnemonics
In a sentence
The mnemonic for the planets stopped working when Pluto was demoted.