memoir

Meanings

nounmemoir (plural memoirs)

plural memoirs

An autobiography; a book describing the personal experiences of an author.
When I retire, I'm going to write my memoirs.
A biography; a book describing the experiences of a subject from personal knowledge of the subject or from sources with personal knowledge of the subject.
James wrote a memoir of his grandmother shortly after she passed away.
Any form of narrative describing the personal experiences of a writer.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see

autobiography

Origin

Proto-Indo-European*(s)mer-der.?
Latinmemor
Latinmemoria
Old Frenchmemoire
Middle Frenchmemoire
Frenchmémoire
Englishmemoir

Borrowed from French mémoire, from Middle French memoire, from Old French memoire, from Latin memoria. Doublet of memoria and memory.

More words from French

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek ὑπμνήματα

ὑπμνήματα (hupmnḗmata)book describing the personal experiences of an author

Arabic مُذَكَّرَات, مُذَكِّرَات

مُذَكَّرَات (muḏakkarāt)book describing the personal experiences of an author
مُذَكِّرَات (muḏakkirāt)book describing the personal experiences of an author

Bulgarian мемоа́ри, спо́мени

мемоа́ри (memoári)book describing the personal experiences of an author
спо́мени (spómeni)book describing the personal experiences of an author

Chinese Cantonese 回憶錄 /回忆录

回憶錄 /回忆录book describing the personal experiences of an author

Chinese Mandarin 回憶錄 /回忆录

回憶錄 /回忆录 (huíyìlù)book describing the personal experiences of an author

Czech paměti, memoáry

pamětibook describing the personal experiences of an author
memoárybook describing the personal experiences of an author

Danish memoirer, erindringer

memoirerbook describing the personal experiences of an author
erindringerbook describing the personal experiences of an author

Dutch memoires, gedenkschriften

memoiresbook describing the personal experiences of an author
gedenkschriftenbook describing the personal experiences of an author

Estonian mälestus, memuaar

mälestusbook describing the personal experiences of an author
memuaarbook describing the personal experiences of an author

Finnish muistelmat, muistelmateos

muistelmatbook describing the personal experiences of an author
muistelmateosbook describing the personal experiences of an author
muistelmaany form of narrative describing the personal experiences of a writer

French mémoires

mémoiresbook describing the personal experiences of an author

German Memoiren, Lebenserinnerungen

Memoirenbook describing the personal experiences of an author
Lebenserinnerungenbook describing the personal experiences of an author

Greek απομνημονεύματα

απομνημονεύματα (apomnimonévmata)book describing the personal experiences of an author

Hebrew זיכרונות, זיכרונות

זיכרונות (zikhronót)book describing the personal experiences of an author
זיכרונות (zikhronót)any form of narrative describing the personal experiences of a writer

Hindi संस्मरण

संस्मरण (sansmaraṇ)book describing the personal experiences of an author

Hungarian memoár, emlékirat

memoárbook describing the personal experiences of an author
emlékiratbook describing the personal experiences of an author

Icelandic endurminningabók

endurminningabókbook describing the personal experiences of an author

Indonesian memoar

memoarbook describing the personal experiences of an author

Italian memorie

memoriebook describing the personal experiences of an author

Japanese 回想録, 回顧録

回想録 (kaisōroku)book describing the personal experiences of an author
回顧録 (kaikoroku)book describing the personal experiences of an author

Korean 회상록, 회고록

회상록 (hoesangnok)book describing the personal experiences of an author
회고록 (hoegorok)book describing the personal experiences of an author

Latvian memuāri

memuāribook describing the personal experiences of an author

Lithuanian memuarai, atsiminimai

memuaraibook describing the personal experiences of an author
atsiminimaibook describing the personal experiences of an author

Malay memoir

memoirbook describing the personal experiences of an author

Māori kupu whakamahara, kupu whakamahara

kupu whakamaharabook describing the personal experiences of an author
kupu whakamaharaany form of narrative describing the personal experiences of a writer
ripoingaany form of narrative describing the personal experiences of a writer

Norwegian Bokmål memoarer

memoarerbook describing the personal experiences of an author

Persian خاطِرات, شَرححال

خاطِرات (xâterât)book describing the personal experiences of an author
شَرححال (šarx-e-xâl)book describing the personal experiences of an author
یادداشت (yâddâšt)book describing the personal experiences of an author

Polish pamiętnik

pamiętnikbook describing the personal experiences of an author

Portuguese memória

memóriabook describing the personal experiences of an author

Romanian memorii

memoriibook describing the personal experiences of an author

Russian мемуа́ры, воспомина́ния

мемуа́ры (memuáry)book describing the personal experiences of an author
воспомина́ния (vospominánija)book describing the personal experiences of an author
мемуа́ры (memuáry)any form of narrative describing the personal experiences of a writer

Slovak memoáre, pamäti

memoárebook describing the personal experiences of an author
pamätibook describing the personal experiences of an author

Spanish memoria

memoriabook describing the personal experiences of an author

Swahili kumbukumbu

kumbukumbubook describing the personal experiences of an author

Swedish minne, memoarer

minnebook describing the personal experiences of an author
memoarerbook describing the personal experiences of an author

Tagalog talang-gunita, talanggunita

talang-gunitabook describing the personal experiences of an author
talanggunitabook describing the personal experiences of an author
talang-alaalabook describing the personal experiences of an author

Turkish hatırat, andaç

hatıratbook describing the personal experiences of an author
andaçbook describing the personal experiences of an author
anıbook describing the personal experiences of an author
hatıratany form of narrative describing the personal experiences of a writer
andaçany form of narrative describing the personal experiences of a writer

Ukrainian мемуа́ри, спо́мини

мемуа́ри (memuáry)book describing the personal experiences of an author
спо́мини (spómyny)book describing the personal experiences of an author
спо́гади (spóhady)book describing the personal experiences of an author
па́м'ятник (pámʺjatnyk)book describing the personal experiences of an author
записки́ (zapyský)book describing the personal experiences of an author

Urdu یادداشْت

یادداشْت (yāddāśt)book describing the personal experiences of an author

Vietnamese hồi ký, luận văn

hồi kýbook describing the personal experiences of an author
luận vănbook describing the personal experiences of an author
truyện kýany form of narrative describing the personal experiences of a writer

Yiddish מעמואַרן

מעמואַרן (memuarn)book describing the personal experiences of an author

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Moremi Momier

Cite this entry

APA

memoir. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/memoir

MLA

“memoir.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/memoir. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “memoir,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/memoir.

Source: memoir on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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memoir

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