Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Something, such as a monument or holiday, intended to celebrate or honor the memory of a person or an event.
  • noun A written statement of facts or a petition presented to a legislative body or an executive.
  • adjective Serving as a remembrance of a person or an event; commemorative.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or being in memory.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Preservative of memory; serving for commemoration: as, a memorial tablet; a memorial window in a church.
  • Contained in one's memory; within the memory of man: opposed to immemorial.
  • noun That which preserves the memory of something; anything designed or adapted to serve as a reminder of a person, an event, or a fact or facts of any kind belonging to past time, as a record, a monument, an inscription, a custom, a periodical observance, etc.: as, the “Memorial of St. Helena,” a book by Las Cases; the Martyrs' Memorial at Oxford.
  • noun In law: A short note or abstract, intended for registry, exhibiting the particulars of a deed, etc.
  • noun In Scots law, a statement of facts bearing upon a particular point, doubtful or disputed, in order to obtain counsel's opinion upon that point; a statement of facts or points in dispute for the use or advice of counsel; a brief.
  • noun A written representation of facts made to a legislative or other body as the ground of a petition, or a representation of facts accompanied with a petition.
  • noun In diplomacy, one of a class of informal state papers much used in negotiations, embracing such documents as circulars sent to foreign agents, answers to the communications of ambassadors, and notes to foreign cabinets and ambassadors.
  • noun Memory; remembrance; that which is remembered (about a person or thing).
  • noun Eccles. See commemoration, 2 . Synonyms 1. Memorial, Monument, Memento, Souvenir, and Memorandum agree in meaning that which puts one in mind or helps one to remember; all but memorandum are especially means of keeping a revered or endeared person, place, etc., in memory. A memorandum is simply a note made in order to prevent the forgetting of something important, especially something which might easily slip from the mind Memento and souvenir differ very slightly, souvenir being a somewhat more elevated word: we give a book or a lock of hair as a memento; we prize a faded flower as a souvenir of a visit to Mount Vernon with friends now separated from us. Memorial and monument are sometimes the same: as, the Martyrs' Memorial at Oxford is essentially a monument. A monument is often a single shaft or column, as the Washington monument; a memorial may be a commemorative structure, an illuminated window, a book, etc.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Anything intended to preserve the memory of a person or event; something which serves to keep something else in remembrance; a monument.
  • noun Obs. or R. A memorandum; a record.
  • noun A written representation of facts, addressed to the government, or to some branch of it, or to a society, etc., -- often accompanied with a petition.
  • noun obsolete Memory; remembrance.
  • noun (Diplomacy) A species of informal state paper, much used in negotiation.
  • adjective Serving to preserve remembrance; commemorative.
  • adjective Contained in memory.
  • adjective Mnemonic; assisting the memory.
  • adjective [U.S.] See Memorial Day in the vocabulary. Also called Decoration Day.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A structure, such as a monument, intended to celebrate the memory of a person or event
  • noun A service of remembrance or commemoration
  • noun law a statement of facts set out in the form of a petition to a person in authority, a court or tribunal, a government, etc.
  • adjective Serving as a remembrance of someone or something; commemorative

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a recognition of meritorious service
  • noun a structure erected to commemorate persons or events
  • noun a written statement of facts submitted in conjunction with a petition to an authority

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin memoriāle, from neuter of Latin memoriālis, belonging to memory, from memoria, memory; see memory.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Late Latin memoriale, neuter of memorialis.

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Examples

  • IPPEKDEL tsst lihood from the profession ezercued by yoor me - moriatists, beinff identified with the general proa - perity of the shipping interest of the Union, im - fooldens them to set forth in this memorial the loss it is sufiering from the fatal influence of the dis* criminating duties established in France to favor its own vessels in the exclusive importation there of the great staples of the United States, the pro - gressive evils of which influence your memorial* ists have painfully witnessed for the last two years in silence, from the expectation they (and no doubt their ship owners also) entertained that a commer - cial treaty was negotiating, which, at least, would have established the intercourse between France and the United States on the same footing on which it exists as regards England and other coun - tries that have adopted the liberal system to which Congress has invited all nations.

    The debates and proceedings in the Congress of the United States : with an appendix containing important state papers and public documents, and all the laws of a public nature; with a copious index; compiled from authentic materials 1789

  • From Wikipedia: On the south end of the memorial is a field of symbolic bronze and stone chairs — one for each person lost, arranged according to what floor of the building they were on.

    In memory of those lost 15 years ago. « Biodork 2010

  • While I was a bit sad to be away from my folks, I did feel that somehow I was doing a valuable thing: the memorial is a somber and reflective place, and it seemed only fair to spend the day by reminding myself just how lucky I am to even be alive, and by remembering those who died senselessly and while the rest of the world looked on in silence.

    Archive 2007-01-01 jen 2007

  • While I was a bit sad to be away from my folks, I did feel that somehow I was doing a valuable thing: the memorial is a somber and reflective place, and it seemed only fair to spend the day by reminding myself just how lucky I am to even be alive, and by remembering those who died senselessly and while the rest of the world looked on in silence.

    uganda, rwanda, and zanzibar jen 2007

  • A budget for the memorial was approved by the City of Kaohsiung, a contractor was obtained and the construction of the memorial is scheduled to begin shortly.

    Never Forgotten Newsletter 2005

  • The major feature of the memorial is a ginormous swath of red maple trees, describing an arc across the landscape, around the field in which the bulk of the debris was found.

    Nelson Byrd Woltz Caught in Controversy at cvillenews.com 2005

  • Some proposed solutions are complete nonsense, but others come close, spelling out bridge victims' names and the word "memorial."

    StarTribune.com rss feed 2011

  • Some proposed solutions are complete nonsense, but others come close, spelling out bridge victims' names and the word "memorial."

    StarTribune.com rss feed 2011

  • With the public momentum on their side, protesters held what they called a memorial ceremony Sunday night, parading around Democracy Monument, at the scene of some of the clashes, holding up photographs of the dead.

    NYT > Home Page By SETH MYDANS 2010

  • With the public momentum on their side, protesters held what they called a memorial ceremony Sunday night, parading around Democracy Monument, at the scene of some of the clashes, holding up photographs of the dead. “Give a big hand for the heroes of democracy! †cried the leader of the procession,

    Elections - fresh news by plazoo.com 2010

Comments

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  • The longest common word spelled exclusively with two-letter U.S. postal codes.

    --Chris Cole, Wordplay (See comment under "Wordplay List".)

    May 25, 2008