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personal memory

personal memory

2 3.8
An event from a person's life that they can remember
  • noun
  • /ˈpɜrsənl ˈmɛməri/
translation icon : memoria personal
  • I have a vivid personal memory of the day I graduated from college.
  • personal memories of 1986

Examples

  • I came back here because I wanted to be haunted by my personal memories.

  • I have personal memories of seeing this animation at around 5 years old.

    Blog text (7)
  • No digging around in my personal memories.

  • What are teachers' personal memories and experiences of being tracked?

    Academic text (2004)
  • When I was invited to talk about personal memories of Vatican II, a question arose:

    Academic text (2013)
  • In appreciation, I want to share with you my personal memory of the Twin Towers.

    Academic text (2001)
  • I was born in '37, so many of these priceless pictures bring back personal memories.

    Blog text (34)
  • Personal memories of the 1986 disaster reflect how Chernobyl presented everyday life dilemmas at home and at work.

    Academic text (2001)
  • The fact that the words we use may evoke personal memories or idiosyncratic associations makes us no different from the people around us who can actually see what we're talking about.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Even without reading them, the letters function as a ghost, reawakening personal memories of her father, but also forcing her to reexamine them in the light of the new possibility of reading his version of the past.

    Academic text (2000)

Synonyms

memory
vspersonal memory
628 2.8

Ability to store and remember information, experiences, and skills

is specifically about an individual's life events rather than general storage ability
recollection
vspersonal memory
116 3.8

A memory of something from the past or the act of remembering it

refers to an individual's collection of specific past events rather than a single recall
recall
vspersonal memory
25 2.8

Ability to remember things you learned

concerns actual past events from one's life rather than a retrieval process
remembrance
vspersonal memory
14 3.9

The ability to remember people, events, or information

focuses on actual past events and how they were lived rather than ability
reminiscence
vspersonal memory
9 6.0

A memory of something from the past

focuses on specific single events from one's life rather than broader stories
episodic memory
vspersonal memory
  • Specialized
1 6.3

The ability to remember specific events from your own life with their details

focuses on one's past events without stressing context or fine details
anamnesis
vspersonal memory
9.9

The ability to remember events from the past

is the common everyday way to name one's own past events

How Clear

vivid
102 3.3
personal memory
2 3.8

Surface Forms

Morphology

personal + memory

The meaning 'an individual's memory of specific events' is directly and compositionally derived from 'personal' (pertaining to a particular person) + 'memory' (a recollection). This straightforward noun-noun combination follows common compositional patterns across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily understand it.

Etymology

The phrase personal memory comes from the image of a private box of moments that each person carries inside. The word personal shows it belongs to you and memory is like a stored picture or note, so the phrase means memories of 'one's own life'.