Etymograph

English

remember

Remember comes from Middle English remembren, from Old French remembrer, from Late Latin rememorari ‘to remember again’, from re- + memor ‘mindful’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-‘to think about, be mindful, remember’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmemor‘mindful’
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CErememorari‘to remember again’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400remembrer‘to remember’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500remembren‘to remember’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611remember

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)mer-‘to think about, be mindful, remember’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmemor‘mindful’
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CErememorari‘to remember again’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400remembrer‘to remember’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500remembren‘to remember’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1610–1611remember

Earliest quotation: 1610–1611, William Shakespeare, The Tempest: “Since thou dost give me pains, / Let me…”

The story

The success of the Old French word was helped by its proximity in sound and meaning to an existing Germanic word: Old English mimorian, mymerian (‘to remember, commemorate’) from Proto-Germanic *mimrōną, *mīmrōną (‘to remember, be mindful’), from the same Indo-European source, and is akin to Saterland Frisian miemerje (‘to ponder, reflect’), Middle Low German mimeren (‘to ponder, meditate’), Middle Dutch mimeren (‘to reflect, think to oneself’) (Dutch mijmeren (‘to muse, reflect deeply’)), Old English ġemimor (‘mindful’), Old Norse Mímir, Mim (‘Norse god of memory’), Old English māmrian (‘to think out, design’).

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’

march, murder, marine, nightmare, mortality, marsh, mortal, maritime, mortar, mara, moor, mare, mere, morbid, muller, mort, morn, marinate, moribund, marinara, ambrosia, maar, cormorant, 62 more

through Late Latin memor ‘mindful’

memory, memorable, memoir, memoria, 3 more

Today it means

verb To recall from one's memory; to have an image in one's memory.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)mer- / remember

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