Meanings
nounrace memory (countable and uncountable, plural race memories)
plural race memories
- countableuncountablehuman sciencesA supposed memory, present at birth, and that exists in the absence of sensory experience, that arises from the common experience of one's ancestors.
Even in my short life I had learned as much as that - or had inherited it in that race memory which we call instinct.
1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLCSynonyms: genetic memory, racial memory
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA supposed memory, present at birth, and that exists in the absence of sensory experience, that arises from the common experience of one's ancestors.
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Cite this entry
APA
race memory. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/race%20memory
MLA
“race memory.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/race%20memory. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “race memory,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/race%20memory.
Source: race memory on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.