remembrance
/ɹɪˈmɛm.bɹəns/
remembrance means the act of remembering; a holding in mind, or bringing to mind; recollection. It carries an Arena rating of 1498, earned across 4 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, remembrance ranks #1,310 of 25,264 for Qualifying, #7,082 of 14,423 for Most Sublime Words, #7,100 of 14,440 for Most Satisfying to Say, #7,171 of 14,448 for Most Incisive Words.
remembrance is pronounced /ɹɪˈmɛm.bɹəns/.
Why “remembrance” is a great word
The act or state of remembering, or a thing kept in memory. From Middle English remembraunce, from Old French remembrance, from remembrer ("to remember"), from Late Latin rememorārī ("to call to mind, to remember"), first attested c. 1300. Unlike recollection, which implies the conscious labor of summoning specific details, or memory, the broad, impersonal faculty of retention, remembrance carries a weight of intention and tenderness. It is the scent of rain on hot stone that pulls a childhood summer into sudden clarity, the weight of a letter worn soft at the edges from handling, or the particular silence that falls when a name is spoken into a room grown accustomed to its absence—the stubborn, human refusal to let what was loved dissolve entirely into was.
Etymology
From Middle English remembraunce, from Old French remembrance, from remembrer (“to remember”), from Late Latin rememorārī (“to call to mind, to remember”). Equivalent to remember + -ance.
noun
- The act of remembering; a holding in mind, or bringing to mind; recollection.“Dal[ila]. Let me approach at leaſt, and touch thy hand. / Sams[on]. Not for thy life, leſt fierce remembrance wake / my ſudden rage to tear thee joint by joint.”
- The state of being remembered, or held in mind; memory, recollection.“There's Roſemary, that's for Remembraunce. / Pray loue remember: and there is Paconcies, that's for Thoughts.”
- Something remembered; a person or thing kept in memory.
- Something which serves to remember; a memento, a memorial, a souvenir, a token; a memorandum or note of something to be remembered.“If you turne not: you will returne the ſooner: / Keep this remembrance for thy Iulia’s sake.”
- The power of remembering or the period over which one's memory extends.“Thee I have heard relating what was done / Ere my remembrance; now hear me relate / My ſtory, which perhaps thou haſt not heard; […]”
- Something to be remembered, such as an admonition, counsel, instruction.
verb
- To remember; to recall to mind.
Words closest in meaning
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