in memoriam

English

WOTD – 11 September 2011

Etymology

From Latin in memoriam (“into memory”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪn məˈmɔɹ.i.əm/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪn məˈmɔː.ɹi.əm/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Adverb

in memoriam (not comparable)

1. In memory (of); as a memorial.
   • 2004, John P. Frayne and Madeleine Marchaterre, “Notes” to The Collected Works of W. B. Yeats, Volume IX: Early Articles and Reviews, Scribner, →ISBN, page 553:

     An Enchanted Castle, and Other Poems, 1893, p. 72, prefaces the poem with this line, which suggests that the poem was written “in memoriam”: “[C. L. P., OB. JULY 18, 1884.]”.

   • 2009, Zuzana Parusniková, review of David Miller’s Out of Error, in Zuzana Parusniková and Robert S. Cohen (editors), Rethinking Popper, Springer, →ISBN, page 417:

     The book can be divided into three main parts: chapters 1, 14 were written in memoriam; in the second part (chapters 2–7) Miller carries out a philosophical investigation of critical rationalism; the third part (chapters 8–13) […]

Usage notes

• Sometimes followed by a reference to the one being remembered: then, either a preposition is used (typically of) or in memoriam is followed directly by the reference (as in in memoriam: Christa McAuliffe or in memoriam Christa McAuliffe).

Translations

in memory of

• Armenian: ի հիշատակ (i hišatak)
• Czech: na památku f
• Dutch: ter gedachtenis, in memoriam
• Finnish: muistolle, muistoa kunnioittaen
• French: en souvenir de, in memoriam (fr)
• German: im Andenken (an), zum Gedächtnis (an or + genitive), zur Erinnerung (an or + genitive), im Gedenken (an); in memoriam or in Memoriam (+ genitive)
• Greek: εις μνήμην (eis mnímin)
• Latin: in memoriam (+ genitive)
• Old English: on ġemynd
• Polish: ku pamięci, in memoriam (pl)
• Portuguese: em memória (pt)
• Russian: в па́мять (v pámjatʹ)
• Spanish: en memoria de, en recuerdo de
• Swedish: in memoriam (sv), till minne av
• Telugu: జ్ఞాపకార్థం (jñāpakārthaṁ)

Noun

in memoriam (plural in memoriams)

1. An announcement or composition etc. in memory of a deceased person.

Polish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin in memoriam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /in.mɛˈmɔ.rjam/
• Rhymes: -ɔrjam

Adjective

in memoriam (not comparable, no derived adverb)

1. (literary) in memoriam

   Synonyms: ku pamięci, na pamiątkę

Adverb

in memoriam (not comparable)

1. (literary) in memoriam

   Synonyms: ku pamięci, na pamiątkę

Further reading

• in memoriam in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• in memoriam in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Spanish

Adverb

in memoriam

1. in memoriam

Further reading

• “in memoriam”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014