What does mnemonic mean
Mnemonic Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
1 of 2
mne·mon·ic ni-ˈmä-nik
1
: assisting or intended to assist memory
To distinguish "principal" from "principle" use the mnemonic aid "the principal is your pal."
also : of or relating to mnemonics
2
: of or relating to memory
mnemonic skill
mnemonically
ni-ˈmä-ni-k(ə-)lē
adverb
mnemonic
2 of 2
: a mnemonic device or code
Did you know?
Need a mnemonic device to remember how to spell mnemonic? Although the word’s pronunciation begins with an n sound, the spelling begins with an m, as in memory. There are very few English words that start this way (mnestic and mnioid are two others), and as with similar Latin and Greek borrowings such as pneumonia, we retained the double initial consonant but not the pronunciation. In addition to its adjectival use, mnemonic is also a noun used to refer to a mnemonic device, such as the famous—or infamous—spelling dictum “I before E, except after C,” which isn't consistently helpful (just ask your neighbor to weigh in on it).
Example Sentences
Noun HOMES is used as a mnemonic for the names of the Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.
Recent Examples on the Web
For starters, lists are mnemonic, gathering things to remember, and also judgmental, asserting what’s worth remembering.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 5 Dec. 2022 My alliterative schema for the various listening environments, designed to be annoyingly mnemonic, is corner, club, cathedral, and cocoon. —Sasha Frere-jones, Harper’s Magazine , 9 Nov. 2022 The International Astronomical Union even formally recognizes the latter mnemonic device, while also pointing out the five dwarf planets that exist among the eight major ones. —Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 12 Sep. 2022 The teaser uses music as both a source of emotional connection and as a mnemonic device. —Robin Givhan, Washington Post, 26 July 2022 An easy way to remember migraine prevention techniques is through the mnemonic device SEEDS.
—Carly Vandergriendt, SELF, 19 May 2022 Its name is a mnemonic identify threats based on the following categories: Spoofing, Tampering, Repudiation, Information disclosure, Denial of service and Elevation of privilege. —Barbara Cosgriff, Forbes, 6 May 2022 Restoring Indigenous place names restores
mnemonic and spiritual connections among place, culture and ancestral knowledge. —Bonnie Mcgill, Scientific American, 22 Apr. 2022 Utilizing a mnemonic learning device in her Earth Science course, Lusby-Brown incorporated visual, auditory and interactive components to teach her students about the different celestial bodies of the solar system. —C.r. Walker, chicagotribune.com, 28 Feb.
2022
Eyüp sat in front of me, framed against a background of flower sellers and A.T.M.s, a mnemonic in the flesh. —New York Times, 12 May 2022 Not only was the whine agitating—EHHNNNNNNNN—but its constant drone was like a cruel mnemonic for everything that bothered him. —Bianca Bosker, The Atlantic, 8 Oct. 2019 The mnemonic that emergency room doctors use to quickly evaluate patients is A.B.C. — airway, breathing, circulation. —New York Times, 9 Aug.
2019 This mnemonic may unwittingly exploit the fact that the hippocampus encodes both location information and autobiographical memories. —Quanta Magazine, 7 Oct. 2014 Another hint that websites can offer is what Dr. Juang calls a visual mnemonic—a simple drawing that suggests to the user what their passphrase is. —Henry Williams, WSJ, 18 Sep. 2018 Which seems to me like the ultimate takeaway: Google doesn't need to engineer mnemonics into its 2FA codes. —Robbie Gonzalez, WIRED, 21 Apr. 2018 Earl helped her fellow students break down the biological processes into mnemonics that would help them remember. —Karen Herzog, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 16 Jan.
2018 But Bai/bye is a nifty mnemonic, deftly associating the brand’s name with a memorable tune. —Seth Stevenson, Slate Magazine, 6 Feb. 2017 See More
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mnemonic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Word History
Etymology
Adjective and Noun
Greek mnēmonikos, from mnēmōn mindful, from mimnēskesthai to remember — more at mind
First Known Use
Adjective
1672, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Noun
1842, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of mnemonic was in 1672
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“Mnemonic.
” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mnemonic. Accessed 27 Dec. 2022.
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Kids Definition
mnemonic
adjective
mne·mon·ic
ni-ˈmän-ik
: assisting or intended to assist memory
Medical Definition
mnemonic
1 of 2 adjective
mne·mon·ic ni-ˈmän-ik
1
: assisting or intended to assist memory
also : of or relating to mnemonics
2
: of or relating to memory
mnemonically
-i-k(ə-)lē
adverb
mnemonic
2 of 2 noun
: a mnemonic device or code
More from Merriam-Webster on
mnemonicNglish: Translation of mnemonic for Spanish Speakers
Britannica.
com: Encyclopedia article about mnemonic
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Merriam-Webster unabridged
definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
Examples of mnemonic
mnemonic
How a 1960s novelty song became one of the greatest mnemonic devices of all time.
From Slate Magazine
So the designers created a mnemonic tool using the word "path," which could help tie the concepts of the brand to a visual representation.
From Fast Company
Master memory is cultivated by mnemonic training -- the cultivation of a multi-layered and often emotionally connected retrieval structure.
From Huffington Post
Over 15 elaborate mnemonic devices were developed that involved learning the text in many different ways.
From CNN
So my amo may use different mnemonics with my school revision than yours.
From Huffington Post
Of course, a mnemonic visual brand alone can not win a candidate his or her party's nomination.
From WIRED
You use that feature to create a mnemonic that's easy to reproduce, naturally varies in length, and produces a unique character sequence for each account.
From Phys.Org
And photos differ significantly from other data in that there is an intense emotional and mnemonic attachment to them.
From TechCrunch
Using a mnemonic strategy now known as "method of loci," ancient memorizers conjured in their minds a "memory palace" -- a well-known or much-loved place.
From Los Angeles Times
If you need a mnemonic device for it, simply picture the jacket in your mind's eye.
From Slate Magazine
It's these little audio mnemonics that kind of keep my sensibilities about me, and it's kind of funny when there's a pledge drive or something going on.
From NPR
I recited her acronyms in my head constantly, her mnemonics for remembering the skills, and whispered myself through the steps of successful interactions with other human beings.
From Huffington Post
Writing itself was the object of reverence, and the mnemonic, ritual, and devotional uses of the written word overshadowed its more mundane documentary functions.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web.
Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
Translations of mnemonic
in Chinese (Traditional)
幫助記憶的詩歌（或詞句等）, 助記符號, 助記順口溜…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
帮助记忆的诗歌（或词句等）, 助记符号, 助记顺口溜…
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in Portuguese
mnemônica…
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to make someone give you exact details or a firm decision about something
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Contents
EnglishExamplesTranslations
Mnemonics for beginners: tips and exercises
What is mnemonics
Mnemonics, or mnemonics, is a set of techniques that increase memory capacity and make it easier to memorize information.
Mnemonic memorization is based on visualization - figurative note-taking, during which abstract concepts receive visual, auditory or kinesthetic incarnations in memory.
In order for an association to arise in the head and the necessary neural connections to form, the image must be voluminous and bright. Associations are purely individual and can be strange or ridiculous - that's even better. nine0009
Exercise 1 . Create a visual image of a radish, a teacher, and good luck. The first two words are pretty easy: radish - a red-and-white vegetable with a tail appears before your eyes; teacher - most likely, you will introduce a teacher that you like. Luck is harder - it's a rather abstract concept. Here it is necessary to use the method of free associations. The first visual image that came to mind when you read the task is free association. Perhaps it will be a horseshoe or a wheel of fortune as common symbols of good luck. nine0009
Why children need mnemonics
Before the age of 14, a child is developing abstract-logical thinking, and he remembers mainly what he experienced personally.
Mnemonics, on the other hand, allows you to connect abstract concepts from the school curriculum with events and phenomena from life, thereby simplifying the process of memorization.
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Regular practice of mnemonics develops:
- memory and attentiveness,
- speech and vocabulary,
- fantasy and creativity.
The amount of data that surrounds us is growing every second. A modern student needs to be able to work with information: quickly highlight the main thing, remember what is useful in life. Mnemonics just answers these requests.
Gayane Kuryatova, teacher of mnemonics, participant of the project
"Amazing people".
Having mastered the art of associative memorization, the child will be able not only to master the school curriculum better, but also to work successfully with additional materials. nine0005
The use of mnemonics: three effective techniques
The techniques of mnemonics are available to everyone, they are easy to master.
In this article, we will look at several popular memory development techniques.
Learn how to memorize digital information, texts, terms, poems and much more on the course "Mnemonics: how easy it is to memorize". With the promo code
MNEMO2021 you will get a week of free access to the course.Story method
The essence of this technique is to link words and definitions into one text. A funny story is much easier to remember than twenty abstract concepts. The more paradoxical and fantastic the story is, the easier it will be remembered.
Advantages of the method:
- does not require prior preparation,
- trains creativity,
- is fun and interesting.
The disadvantage of the reception is that it is not suitable for memorizing a large amount of information. nine0009
Exercise 2 . Words are given: postman, tiger, corn, wasp, river, frying pan, crusader, sofa, marmalade, Arab, borscht, toothbrush, rain, tulip, ashes, good luck.
Make up and visualize a story with these words. Be sure to add emotion to your story and empathize with your characters.
Example: Postman Pechkin rode a tiger through a corn field. Pechkin turned back in fear - angry wasps were chasing him. Suddenly he came across a river. "What to do?! shouted the poor postman into the void. There is no bridge! But fortunately, instead of a bridge, there was a huge frying pan nearby. Pechkin, urging the tiger on, ran over it. On the other side of the river, the crusaders were already building barricades of sofas, and as soon as the wasps began to approach, the crusaders began to knock them down with well-aimed throws of marmalade. Pechkin ran up to the old Arab, the recipient of the package, and handed him the box. In it was a plate of bright red borscht, in which instead of a spoon there was a toothbrush. It suddenly began to rain. Everyone raised their heads up, the marmalade no longer flew at the enemy. At first, the most ordinary drops of water fell, but then tulips began to pour from a thundercloud.
Thousands of tulips slowly descended, and as soon as they touched the ground, they immediately turned into ashes. Surprisingly, from the resulting ash, a distinct drawing of a horseshoe was obtained (an image for the word “luck”). nine0073
Method "Chain"
The essence of this memorization technique is the connection of images with each other. It is necessary to string concepts one on another, like beads on a chain. It is important to connect them brightly and follow the sequence. When playing, you need to imagine the entire “construction” at once: remove the images from the chain in the same sequence as you put them on.
Advantage of the method:
- memorization speed,
- can be used literally on the go. nine0009
The disadvantage of the method is that if you forget one element of the chain, you can forget everything else.
Exercise 3 . Remember in a chain the words: fox, astronaut, ring, apple, chess, teacher, Africa, milk.
Example: A red fox in a spacesuit (an association with an astronaut), a ring on his paw and an apple on his nose plays chess with a geography teacher (Africa), but not with figures, but with glasses of milk.
Cicero method
The essence of this technique of mnemonics is the creation in the imagination of a space with reference images. Why the method is named after the ancient Roman philosopher, we have already told. Other names: the memory palace, the Roman room method, the method of loci, the palaces of the mind.
It is not necessary to create a space from scratch, you can imagine your apartment or room. Select several reference images there (TV, table lamp, refrigerator, and so on) and, moving clockwise, draw a route between them. nine0009
Attach a memorable image to each reference image. You can not just one, but the whole chain (as in the previous method). The amount of information you can remember depends on the size of the location and your training.
Images can be changed, that is, new information can be stored many times in the same locations. But if you often use the same places, the images will start to get confused. In this case, the location should be given a "rest".
Benefits of the Cicero method:
- you can memorize large amounts of information,
- memorization is fast enough,
- when repeated, images remain in memory for a long time.
The disadvantage of this method of memory development is laboriousness.
Exercise 4 . Select the reference images in your room and "attach" the following words to them: frog, chocolate, whale, football player, winter, school, computer, grapes, Foxford.
you can remember everything / Sudo Null IT News0001
habrahabr.ru/post/179397 The second part is already here!
What is a mnemonic?
I do not like to write definitions from Wikipedia, so I will explain in my own words what a mnemonic is.
Mnemonics are ways to remember information by changing the type of information. Instead of memorizing numbers, memorize words. Instead of words, you can remember places. Instead of moves in chess - a poem.
The simplest example of a mnemonic is an example of a rhyme, thanks to which you can easily remember the first digits after the decimal point in the number Pi:
Lest we make mistakes,
Must read correctly:
Three, fourteen, fifteen,
Ninety-two and six.
Well, then you need to know,
If we ask you -
It will be five, three, five,
Eight, nine, seven.
write other examples of pi poems in the comments. I know that there are a lot of them
Frankly, I did not specifically look for information on mnemonics on Habré. I want to present a view from my side: what I know. I had no desire to “dilute” the information with other sources. There is a lot of useful information under the cut, which I have been collecting bit by bit for a very long time.
nine0009
Mnemonics is very extensive: it has dozens of ways to remember everything you need. Some methods I considered bad, some too complicated. Therefore, I have identified some of the best, in my opinion, mnemonic techniques. I will specifically not insert descriptions from other sites, explaining everything in my own words.
Palace of Remembrance (Cicero Road)
Description
The ancient philosopher and orator Cicero walked daily to “work”. Possessing brilliant attention, day by day he noticed various features in the road along which he walked. After a long time, Cicero remembered the road so well that he could perfectly remember any of its intervals with all the details. nine0009 After that, Cicero learned to “tie” some objects to the road in his memory. And when he remembered a place on the road, he instantly remembered an object that was "attached" to the place. This is called association .
The method of the memory palace (hereinafter I mean the road of Cicero) consists in strong associative connections, thanks to which you can remember any amount of information in the correct order .
How to remember?
To use the memory palace, you need to have a good imagination. In fact, anyone can use this method, but a good fantasy will help a lot.
Take an abstract random set of products to be bought in a supermarket:
- A pack of sugar
- Sukharikov
- Can of peas
- Crab sticks
- Strawberry Jam nine0025 Carrots
- Ten eggs
- Piece of meat
- Bunch of bananas
- Milk carton
as you can see, my fantasy is not so good
Now we need to find a “road” to which we will link this shopping list. Imaginative people can come up with hundreds of different places and remember them well (a space station, a football field in an underwater camp, whatever), but for a short list of ten items, you can use the real road. nine0005
I will give an example of my “road” and show how to bind objects to it.
Here is my path that I take in the morning every day:
- Bed (I wake up on it)
- Toilet (is it worth writing?)
- Kitchen (breakfast)
- Corridor (dressing, putting on shoes)
- Entrance (going down the stairs)
- Billboard with advertisements in front of the entrance.
- A traffic light that I pass daily.
- Ice cream shop. nine0026
- Barrier in front of the school.
- Porch of the school.
The more information you need to remember, the more detailed it is to make the road. Or longer, whichever is easier for you. The main thing is to remember perfectly in your head all the way. There are no problems with my road, I go to school every day.
Now let's link the shopping list. The most important thing in associative communication: to make unique, unusual, funny or terrifying, any extraordinary associations. Simple associations “there is a pack of sugar on the bed” do not fit.
Try to add feelings to your associations: sound (crunching crackers), touch (nasty sugar). nine0005
- I slept all night not on a bed, but on a pack of sugar. The pack was full of holes and I have sugar crumbs everywhere, they crack unpleasantly, phew!
- I go into the toilet and step on crackers (nasty sound), I slip from fright and fall face down into the toilet. (what you won't do for mnemonics)
- After getting out of this hell, I go into the kitchen, open the cabinet, and a huge mountain of peas falls out on me, slippery and vile (I don’t like peas)
- In the corridor, instead of a spoon, I use crab sticks to put on my shoes. Naturally, it breaks and I put on shoes with a stick inside. nine0026
- I go out to the entrance, start to go down the stairs and slip on the jam (something often with falls, ay-yai-yai)
- On the shield is an advertisement for the purchase of the planet Carrot.
- At a traffic light, when I cross the road, they throw eggs at me from cars.
- I decide to buy ice cream, but instead of the list of ice cream there are different pieces of meat (an abomination, I will never forget this)
- The barrier opens the monkey for a bunch of bananas. Quest! nine0026
- As soon as I step on the porch, the whole floor turns into a milk pool! And I can't swim! Wow...
Most likely, my associations will seem stupid or unsuccessful to you. But that's the first thing that came to my mind. And this is the most important thing. You do not need to think long about the association, choose the first thing that comes to mind, otherwise you will remember later as long as you came up with. Try just a few times and you will do it very quickly, believe me.
Thanks to this method, I can easily memorize 50-60 objects, and potentially - there can be unlimited - as long as your road or roads are enough (no one forbids using several!). nine0005
Binding to numbers
Another way to remember some list or other information.
The method is somewhat more complicated, requires preparation, but there is no need to invent or remember the way.
For each number from 1 to [whatever you want], you come up with the first rhyme that comes to mind. Instead of a rhyme, you can use a strong association that you have associated with a number. The main thing is to be creative. It looks like this:
- One - Aladdin
- Two - Lithuania
- Three - rub (lamp)
- Four - holes in cheese
- Five - honey mushrooms
- Six - Shest. (similar in spelling)
- Seven - James Bond (007)
- Eight - Snowman. (8 looks like a snowman)
- Nine - swan
- Zero - Kolobok
Now, in order to remember (attach some object), you only need to make an associative link with this object. The advantage of this method is that there is no road, we can easily follow the numbers. The disadvantage of the method is preparation.
nine0005
Interesting fact
The Japanese Hideaki Tomoyori can reproduce the number of pi up to 40,000 characters. It took him about 10 years to memorize such a number of digits.
mnemotexnika.narod.ru/sport_01.htm
P.S
I will talk about other methods next time. There are many different methods on how to memorize numbers, words. And now a few truths about mnemonics that I noticed during the lesson:
- It takes a minimum of practice. After two or three attempts, you will be good at making associative connections. nine0026
- In life, this is rarely needed.
- But it develops ordinary memory!
- Most of your friends won't be able to memorize 20 items in the correct order, you can show off ;)
Where did you draw from?
- Corinda - 13 steps to mentalism
- Dominic O'Brien - How to Develop Perfect Memory
- Stepanov - Mnemonics.
