Mnemonic

//nɪˈmɒnɪk// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Something (especially a series of ideas, letters, words, etc.) used to help in remembering a thing; a memory aid.

    "Mr Avery was a great believer in mnemonics; he had one for every possible aspect of flying – which was as good a way as any for student pilots to familiarise themselves with their new environment, but unless used on a daily basis could also be dangerous, for there were so many of them."

  2. 2
    a device (such as a rhyme or acronym) used to aid recall wordnet
  3. 3
    The human-readable, textual form of an assembly language instruction, not including operands.
  4. 4
    Synonym of mnemonics (“the study of techniques for remembering anything more easily”). obsolete
Adjective
  1. 1
    Especially of a series of ideas, letters, words, etc.: intended to help in remembering. not-comparable
  2. 2
    Of or relating to mnemonics (“the study of techniques for remembering anything more easily”). not-comparable
  3. 3
    Of or relating to memory. not-comparable
Adjective
  1. 1
    of or relating to or involved the practice of aiding the memory wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
aide mémoireaide-mémoireanamnesticevocativememorialmindful

Example

More examples

""Takatukaland" is a nice mnemonic for a five-four time signature: Takatukalantakatukalantakatukaland..."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Late Latin mnemonicus or its etymon Ancient Greek μνημονῐκός (mnēmonĭkós, “pertaining to memory or remembrance, memorial”) + English -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Mνημονῐκός (Mnēmonĭkós) is derived from μνήμων (mnḗmōn, “mindful, remembering”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives); while μνήμων (mnḗmōn) is from μνάομαι (mnáomai, “to be mindful, remember”) (from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to mind; to think”)) + -μων (-mōn, suffix forming adjectives and agent nouns). Cognates * French mnémonique (adjective) * German mnemonisch * Italian mnemonico * Portuguese mnemónica

Etymology 2

Noun sense 1 (“something used to help in remembering a thing”) is borrowed from Latin mnēmonicum (“something used to help in remembering a thing”), from Ancient Greek μνημονικόν (mnēmonikón, “something used to help in remembering a thing”), a noun use of the neuter form of μνημονῐκός (mnēmonĭkós, adjective): see etymology 1. Noun sense 3 (“synonym of mnemonics”) is borrowed from Late Latin mnemonica, a noun use of the feminine form of mnemonicus: see etymology 1. Cognates * French mnémonique (noun) * German Mnemonik * Italian mnemonica * Portuguese mnemónico

Related phrases

non-mnemonicassembly language

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.