memoir

From French mémoire (“memoir”), from Latin memoria (“memory”); see memory.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛmˌwɑɹ/
• (obsolete) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛmˌɔɪɚ/
• Hyphenation: mem‧oir

memoir (plural memoirs)

1. An autobiography; a book describing the personal experiences of an author.

   When I retire, I'm going to write my memoirs.

2. A biography; a book describing the experiences of a subject from personal knowledge of the subject or from sources with personal knowledge of the subject.

   James wrote a memoir of his grandmother shortly after she passed away.

3. Any form of narrative describing the personal experiences of a writer.

A memoir may differ from a simple biography or autobiography by not focusing on the author as the primary subject matter, but on people and events in the subject's life. Emphasis is placed on personal observations about external events.

The plural memoirs is often used to refer to a single work.

• memory

• “memoir” in Michael Agnes, editor-in-chief, Webster's New World College Dictionary, 4th edition, Cleveland, Oh.: Wiley, 2010, ISBN 978-0-02-863118-9; reproduced on the Collins English Dictionary
• “memoir” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “memoir” in Merriam–Webster Online Dictionary.
• “memoir” in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press.
• John Walker (1824) A critical pronouncing dictionary‎, page 385

• memoir on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• memoir in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

• momier