Definition

Noun: 1. The act or process of recalling past experiences, events, or people to mind. This is the mental activity of remembering. 2. A specific memory, story, or account of a past experience that is recalled and often shared. This refers to the content of the memory itself. 3. (Formal) A feature or quality that suggests or is reminiscent of something else. This usage describes a subtle similarity that evokes a memory of another thing.

Examples

• Noun (Process):
  • The smell of the ocean brought on a wave of reminiscence about her childhood summers.
  • He sat in quiet reminiscence, thinking of old friends.
• Noun (Specific Memory):
  • She shared an amusing reminiscence about her first day at work.
  • His book is filled with personal reminiscences of life during the war.
• Noun (Feature/Quality):
  • The building's architecture has a strong reminiscence of classical Greek design.
  • There is a reminiscence of his father's mannerisms in the way he speaks.

Advanced Usage

• "To indulge in reminiscence": To allow oneself to spend time thinking about the past, often with pleasure or nostalgia.
  • The old friends met to indulge in reminiscence about their school days.
• "Anecdotal reminiscence": A memory shared in the form of a short, interesting, or amusing personal story.
  • His speech was lightened by several anecdotal reminiscences from his travels.

Variants and Related Words

• Reminisce (verb): To think, talk, or write about past experiences.
  • They spent the evening reminiscing about their youth.
• Reminiscent (adjective):
  • Tending to remind one of something; suggestive.

    • A taste reminiscent of cinnamon.
  • Engaged in or characterized by reminiscence.

    • A reminiscent smile.
• Reminiscently (adverb): In a way that shows you are remembering the past.
  • He smiled reminiscently.

Synonyms

• Recollection: The action or faculty of remembering something.
• Memory: Something remembered from the past; a recollection.
• Recall: The act of bringing a fact, event, or situation back into one's mind.
• Anecdote: A short, amusing, or interesting story about a real incident or person.

Antonyms

• Forgetfulness: The quality of being forgetful; a tendency to forget.
• Amnesia: A partial or total loss of memory.
• Oblivion: The state of being unaware or unconscious of what is happening; the state of being forgotten.

Idioms and Phrases

• "A trip down memory lane": An instance of reminiscing about the past. (This is a common idiom related to the concept of reminiscence).
  • Looking at the photo album was a lovely trip down memory lane.

Noun

1. the process of remembering (especially the process of recovering information by mental effort)
   • he has total recall of the episode
2. a mental impression retained and recalled from the past