Memory in Different Languages
Discover 'Memory' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
Memory, a powerful concept that has shaped civilizations and cultures throughout history. It is the ability to encode, store, and retrieve information, a fundamental process that allows us to learn, remember, and navigate the world. Memories can be personal, collective, or historical, and they help us understand our past, present, and future.
The significance of memory extends beyond the individual, playing a crucial role in the preservation and transmission of cultural heritage. From oral traditions to written records, memory has been a vital tool for preserving the stories, values, and knowledge of communities around the world. Moreover, the study of memory has revealed fascinating insights into the workings of the human mind and the nature of consciousness.
As global citizens, understanding the translation of memory in different languages can help us appreciate the richness and diversity of human experience. For instance, the word for memory in Spanish is 'memoria,' in French 'mémoire,' in German 'Erinnerung,' in Russian 'память' (pamyat'), and in Japanese '記憶' (kioku).
In this article, we delve into the translations of memory in various languages, shedding light on the cultural nuances and historical contexts that shape our understanding of this universal concept.
Memory
Memory in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | geheue | ||
| The Afrikaans word "geheue" is borrowed from the Dutch word "geheugen", meaning "memory" and "recollection". | |||
| Amharic | ትውስታ | ||
| The Amharic word ትውስታ (memory) also means 'remembrance' and 'commemoration'. | |||
| Hausa | ƙwaƙwalwar ajiya | ||
| In Hausa, the word "ƙwaƙwalwar ajiya" denotes not only memory but also storage and repository. | |||
| Igbo | nchekwa | ||
| The Igbo word 'nchekwa' is rooted in the verb 'che' ('to know'), implying memory as a form of retained knowledge. | |||
| Malagasy | fahatsiarovana | ||
| Fahatsiarovana, or memory in Malagasy, derives from the verb 'hatsiaro' which means to 'remember' or 'recall'. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | kukumbukira | ||
| "Kukumbukira" is also used to refer to the act of recalling or remembering something. | |||
| Shona | ndangariro | ||
| In some dialects, "ndangariro" also refers to the place where one remembers something or a place where something was hidden. | |||
| Somali | xusuusta | ||
| The word 'xusuusta' is derived from the Arabic word 'xassa' ('special') | |||
| Sesotho | mohopolo | ||
| The word "mohopolo" also means "a place where people have lived for a long time". | |||
| Swahili | kumbukumbu | ||
| "Kumbukumbu" is derived from the verb "kukumbuka," meaning "to remember" or "recall." | |||
| Xhosa | imemori | ||
| In Xhosa, the word "imemori," while commonly understood to mean "memory", can also refer to "a reminder" or "a memento of something or someone." | |||
| Yoruba | iranti | ||
| "Ìrànti" is the name of a traditional Yoruba fabric worn on special occasions, representing the remembrance of ancestors | |||
| Zulu | inkumbulo | ||
| The Zulu word "inkumbulo" also means "a memorial" or "a reminder". | |||
| Bambara | hakili | ||
| Ewe | susu | ||
| Kinyarwanda | kwibuka | ||
| Lingala | boongo | ||
| Luganda | okujjukira | ||
| Sepedi | kgopolo | ||
| Twi (Akan) | nkaeɛ | ||
Memory in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | ذاكرة | ||
| ذاكرة literally means recollection or remembrance in Arabic, and can refer to memory in general. | |||
| Hebrew | זיכרון | ||
| Though "זיכרון" means "memory" in Hebrew, it also means a "monument" | |||
| Pashto | حافظه | ||
| The Pashto word "حافظه" is derived from the Arabic word "حفظ," which means "to memorize," "to safeguard," or "to protect." | |||
| Arabic | ذاكرة | ||
| ذاكرة literally means recollection or remembrance in Arabic, and can refer to memory in general. | |||
Memory in Western European Languages
| Albanian | kujtesa | ||
| Basque | memoria | ||
| In Basque, "memoria" means both "memory" and "memorial of the dead". | |||
| Catalan | memòria | ||
| The word "memòria" in Catalan comes from the Latin word "memoria" meaning 'memory', 'remembrance', 'mindful', 'commemoration' or 'record'. | |||
| Croatian | memorija | ||
| Though 'memorija' most commonly means 'memory', it can also mean 'memorandum' or 'memorial', deriving from the Latin 'memoria' with the same meanings. | |||
| Danish | hukommelse | ||
| 'Hukommelse' derives from the verb 'at huske,' meaning 'to remember,' related to the English verb 'to get' and noun 'ghost' via Proto-Indo-European '*ǵʰeu̯-,' meaning 'to call forth' | |||
| Dutch | geheugen | ||
| Dutch word "geheugen" has roots in "gehug" (mind), which also meant "stomach", as this was believed to be the seat of emotions. | |||
| English | memory | ||
| The word 'memory' derives from the Latin word 'memoria', which originally meant 'mindful' or 'remembrance'. The term is also frequently used to refer to a computer's storage capacity. | |||
| French | mémoire | ||
| In old French, 'mémoire' also meant 'reminder' or 'evidence', a meaning still found in legal contexts. | |||
| Frisian | oantinken | ||
| Oantinken also means 'remembrance', the ability to recall from memory. | |||
| Galician | memoria | ||
| Galician "memoria" derives from the Latin "memoria" and in Spanish means both "memory" and "reminder". | |||
| German | erinnerung | ||
| Erinnerung', which is the German word for 'memory', also refers to the act of reminding or recollecting something and has a connotation of nostalgia. | |||
| Icelandic | minni | ||
| The word "minni" can also refer to memory or remembrance, or even a memory or keepsake. | |||
| Irish | cuimhne | ||
| The word "cuimhne" means both "memory" and "conscience" in Irish, reflecting the close connection between the two concepts in Celtic culture. | |||
| Italian | memoria | ||
| "Memoria" is also used to refer to the register in a computer or the storage unit in an electronic device. | |||
| Luxembourgish | erënnerung | ||
| Maltese | memorja | ||
| Maltese 'memorja' derives from Latin 'memoria' via Sicilian, but also means 'remarkable' or 'extraordinary' | |||
| Norwegian | hukommelse | ||
| The Norwegian word "hukommelse" derives from the Old Norse noun "hugr", meaning "mind, intellect" rather than "memory". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | memória | ||
| In Portuguese, "memória" also refers to a computer's RAM or to notes written in a book, letter, or electronic device | |||
| Scots Gaelic | cuimhne | ||
| The Scots Gaelic word 'cuimhne' is cognate with the Irish word 'cuimhne', meaning 'memory', and is a derivative of the Proto-Celtic *kom-mneh₂ | |||
| Spanish | memoria | ||
| The word "memoria" derives from the Latin "memorare" ("to remember"), and its secondary meanings include "report" or "reminder". | |||
| Swedish | minne | ||
| In Old Swedish, "minne" also meant "love" or "affection". | |||
| Welsh | cof | ||
| The Welsh word "cof" also means "remembrance" or "recollection". | |||
Memory in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | памяць | ||
| The word | |||
| Bosnian | memorija | ||
| In Bosnian, "memorija" can also refer to a person's ability to remember or their faculty of memory. | |||
| Bulgarian | памет | ||
| The Bulgarian word "памет" is also used to refer to an object that serves as a memento or reminder. | |||
| Czech | paměť | ||
| The word "Paměť" derives from the Proto-Slavic word *pamtь, meaning "memory, mind". | |||
| Estonian | mälu | ||
| Estonian "mälu" has cognates in Finnish "muisti" and Hungarian "emlék". | |||
| Finnish | muisti | ||
| Muisti is a Finnish word that also means "paint" or "dye". While etymologically not related to the English "memory", it shares an Indo-European root for "measure" with the Latin "memini" and the Greek "mnaomai" from which the English word is derived. | |||
| Hungarian | memória | ||
| In Hungarian, the word "memória" not only means "memory" but also "notebook" or "record book". | |||
| Latvian | atmiņa | ||
| Atmiņa is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *men- meaning "to think" or "to remember". | |||
| Lithuanian | atmintis | ||
| The word "atmintis" derives from the Proto-Indo-European "men-," meaning "to think" as well as the "men-ti," meaning "mind or spirit." | |||
| Macedonian | меморија | ||
| The word "меморија" in Macedonian is derived from the Greek word "μνήμη" and is related to the Latin word "memoria", both meaning "memory". | |||
| Polish | pamięć | ||
| The Polish word "pamięć" derives from the Proto-Slavic root *pamtь, also meaning "mind", "intellect", and "remembrance". | |||
| Romanian | memorie | ||
| In Romanian, "memorie" can refer to memories, but can also encompass the notion of recollection and retrieval in the mind. | |||
| Russian | объем памяти | ||
| In Russian, объем памяти, literally meaning "volume of memory," can refer to both computer memory as well as the human ability to remember. | |||
| Serbian | меморија | ||
| The term 'меморија' derives from the Old Slavonic language and can also refer to a place dedicated to the commemoration of a person or event. | |||
| Slovak | pamäť | ||
| The Slovak word "Pamäť" comes from the Proto-Slavic "*pamtь" meaning "remembrance" or "mind". | |||
| Slovenian | spomin | ||
| The Slovene word "spomin" also means "recollection". | |||
| Ukrainian | пам'яті | ||
| The Ukrainian word "пам'яті" can also refer to a monument or memorial to commemorate someone or something | |||
Memory in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | স্মৃতি | ||
| The word "স্মৃতি" in Bengali also has a historical sense of "sacred knowledge" or "tradition", derived from the Sanskrit "smriti". | |||
| Gujarati | મેમરી | ||
| The Gujarati word "મેમરી" also has the meaning of "reminder". | |||
| Hindi | याद | ||
| Some alternate meanings of "याद" include "remembrance" and "missing someone." | |||
| Kannada | ಮೆಮೊರಿ | ||
| The word "ಮೆಮೊರಿ" in Kannada can also refer to a reminder or a note to remember something, similar to the English word "memo" | |||
| Malayalam | മെമ്മറി | ||
| The term മെമ്മറി also refers to "tradition" and "inheritance" in Malayalam. | |||
| Marathi | स्मृती | ||
| स्मृती (smṛti) is also a technical term in Hinduism referring to the body of traditional religious texts in Sanskrit. | |||
| Nepali | मेमोरी | ||
| The word "मेमोरी" is derived from the Latin word "memoria," meaning "the act of remembering." | |||
| Punjabi | ਮੈਮੋਰੀ | ||
| In Punjabi, | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | මතකය | ||
| The word "මතකය" (memory) also means "opinion" or "idea" in Sinhala. | |||
| Tamil | நினைவு | ||
| The Tamil word 'நினைவு' can also refer to 'a thought' or 'an impression' | |||
| Telugu | మెమరీ | ||
| The Telugu word "మెమరీ" is derived from the Sanskrit word "स्मृति" (smr̥ti), which also means "memory." | |||
| Urdu | یاداشت | ||
| The word 'یاداشت' is derived from the Persian word 'یاد' meaning 'to remember'; it also refers to a 'note' or 'memo'. | |||
Memory in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 记忆 | ||
| This character is shared with Japanese (記憶, きおく), Korean (기억), and Vietnamese (kí ức) | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 記憶 | ||
| The character 憶 in 記憶 can also mean "to recall" or "to recollect". | |||
| Japanese | 記憶 | ||
| 記憶 can also mean 'experience' or 'knowledge', and is used in compounds like 'historical experience' and 'knowledge of traditional arts'. | |||
| Korean | 기억 | ||
| The Korean word '기억' also has the alternate meaning of 'trace', as in the trace of a memory. | |||
| Mongolian | санах ой | ||
| The word “санах ой” derives from the verb “санах”, meaning “to remember”, and the abstract nominalizer suffix “-ой" meaning “thing related to” so “thing related to remembering" and thus "memory". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | မှတ်ဉာဏ် | ||
Memory in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | penyimpanan | ||
| "Penyimpanan" derives from Indonesian "simpan" meaning "to store" related to Malay "simpan" with the same meaning. | |||
| Javanese | memori | ||
| In Javanese, the word "memori" can also refer to a keepsake or memento. | |||
| Khmer | ការចងចាំ | ||
| In addition to its primary meaning of "memory," "ការចងចាំ" can also refer to "recollection," "remembrance," or "commemoration." | |||
| Lao | ຄວາມຊົງ ຈຳ | ||
| Malay | ingatan | ||
| The Malay word "ingatan" is also used to mean "warning" and "reminder". | |||
| Thai | หน่วยความจำ | ||
| The Thai word for "memory," หน่วยความจำ, literally translates to "unit of knowledge". | |||
| Vietnamese | ký ức | ||
| "Ký" means "record" and "ức" means "heart". So "ký ức" literally means "record in the heart". | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | alaala | ||
Memory in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | yaddaş | ||
| "Yaddaş" also means "memorial" in Azerbaijani. | |||
| Kazakh | жады | ||
| The word "жады" can also refer to "conscience" or "reputation" in Kazakh. | |||
| Kyrgyz | эс тутум | ||
| The word "эс тутум" also means "consciousness" or "mind" in Kyrgyz. | |||
| Tajik | хотира | ||
| Tajik "хотира" also refers to the memory of a person or thing, especially in the sense of their past life or deeds. | |||
| Turkmen | ýat | ||
| Uzbek | xotira | ||
| "Xotira" derives from the Persian word "khāter" meaning "remembrance" which in turn comes from the Arabic word "khāṭir" meaning "thought". | |||
| Uyghur | ئىچكى ساقلىغۇچ | ||
Memory in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | hoʻomanaʻo | ||
| The word "hoʻomanaʻo" in Hawaiian also means "to remember" or "to commemorate". | |||
| Maori | mahara | ||
| The Māori word 'mahara' not only means 'memory', but also has spiritual connotations implying 'remembrance' and 'remembrance of past deeds'. | |||
| Samoan | manatua | ||
| The Samoan word "manatua" can also mean "to remember" or "to be mindful of". | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | alaala | ||
| The word 'alaala' may have originated from an archaic, onomatopoeic Filipino word that describes the act of recalling something. | |||
Memory in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | amuyu | ||
| Guarani | mandu'a | ||
Memory in International Languages
| Esperanto | memoro | ||
| The Esperanto word "memoro" comes from the Latin "memoria", and also means "commemoration" in Esperanto. | |||
| Latin | memoriae | ||
| The Latin word "memoriae" derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *men- "to think". | |||
Memory in Others Languages
| Greek | μνήμη | ||
| "Μνήμη" in Greek derives from the Proto-Indo-European root "men-," meaning "to remember" or "to call to mind." | |||
| Hmong | kev nco | ||
| The Hmong word "kev nco" can also mean "spirit" or "soul". | |||
| Kurdish | bîr | ||
| The Kurdish word "bîr" has multiple meanings including "memory", "mind", and "intelligence". | |||
| Turkish | hafıza | ||
| The word "hafıza" in Turkish originates from the Arabic word "hifzh", meaning "protection" or "safekeeping", and is also related to the Persian word "khazneh", meaning "treasury" or "storehouse". | |||
| Xhosa | imemori | ||
| In Xhosa, the word "imemori," while commonly understood to mean "memory", can also refer to "a reminder" or "a memento of something or someone." | |||
| Yiddish | זכּרון | ||
| Yiddish's "זכּרון" originally meant "altar," then "offering" and finally, "memory". | |||
| Zulu | inkumbulo | ||
| The Zulu word "inkumbulo" also means "a memorial" or "a reminder". | |||
| Assamese | স্মৃতি | ||
| Aymara | amuyu | ||
| Bhojpuri | ईयाद | ||
| Dhivehi | ހަނދާން | ||
| Dogri | जादाश्त | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | alaala | ||
| Guarani | mandu'a | ||
| Ilocano | memoria | ||
| Krio | mɛmba | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | یادگە | ||
| Maithili | खेआल | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯅꯤꯡꯁꯤꯡꯕ | ||
| Mizo | hriatrengna | ||
| Oromo | yaadannoo | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ସ୍ମୃତି | ||
| Quechua | yuyay | ||
| Sanskrit | स्मृति | ||
| Tatar | хәтер | ||
| Tigrinya | ተዘክሮ | ||
| Tsonga | miehleketo | ||