What is the best way to translate 'remember' into Latin?

Question

Id like to get a tattoo saying 'remember' but translated in Latin. I have learned that the translation depends on what message it would like to convoy with 'remember'.

The message id like to convey is mostly a message to myself to not forget how happy I felt during my time in another country and that I want to keep remembering that feeling so it will not fade over time. I want to stay motivated to go back when I can. I would like to keep it to one word/two words maximum if possbile.

Are you asking for a translation of just the word remember, or you actually want a solution to your wider translation? It's unclear from the question. Please clarify. — luchonacho, Jul 14 '18 at 16:39
In what way was the answer inadequate last time you asked this question? — Dawood ibn Kareem, Jul 14 '18 at 21:26
@DawoodibnKareem The earlier question was about the difference between two words, this one is about trying to convey a certain message. They are related, of course, but the questions themselves are different, and so are the answers. The answer to the linked question does not fully answer the present one. — Joonas Ilmavirta, Jul 16 '18 at 12:15
If the answer solved your question, don't forget to accept it :) — luchonacho, Sep 26 '18 at 08:34

score 13 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 14 '18 at 16:33

Memento precisely conveys that meaning, in my opinion. It is an imperative (like "do this", "do that"), which means "Remember!", as in "Do remember".

This word is part of a very famous expression: memento mori. There are a few question on the meaning of such expression in this site. E.g. here.

Joonas Ilmavirta · Answer 2 · 2018-07-14T17:45:39.633

To emphasize the aspect that you want to keep remembering it, I suggest the future: meminero, "I will remember". It sounds more nuanced than the plain memini, "I remember", but both are equally correct. Neither of these is an order to yourself; these more like promises. If you prefer an order, luchonacho's answer gives you that.

If you want to add emphasis, you could do something like semper meminero, "I will always remember". With the constraints you give, the only possibility seems to be to add an adverb (like semper, "forever").

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 20 '23 at 18:54

In Classical Latin, this idiom was used: in memoria tenere: to hold in memory "Memoria" is in the ablative, as the object of the preposition, "in."

"Tenere" is the infinitive of the 2nd conjugation verb, "teneo, tenure, tenui, tentus," to hold, to grasp.

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Mar 31 '19 at 00:34

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Just to correct what Rafael has said above: the verb “memoror” is NOT attested in Classical Latin. It won’t even come up as such in most dictionaries, and when it does, it is clearly indicated it is Ecclesiastica Latin / Medieval Latin. All the occurrences in Classical Latin in the link given reger actually to memor, adjective. “Memini” is definitely the verb for “to remember” in Classical Latin, while “memoror” is just a Late Latin invention.

answered Mar 31 '19 at 00:34

R. Martins

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Welcome to the site! This is a useful remark, but I should also point out that the asker didn't specify that they wanted classical Latin. But if one wants to go with something classical, attestation is valuable. – Joonas Ilmavirta Mar 31 '19 at 03:54
@JoonasIlmavirta I think this is in particular in reaction to calling memoror Classical. That said, perhaps it should be converted to a comment on Rafael's answer. – cmw Feb 20 '23 at 19:07

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 18 '18 at 16:20

Another verb is memoror, its 2nd person imperative being memorare, 1st person future active, memorabor. Hence you have to forms for each:

Memento / memorare for the command
Meminero / Memorabor for the commitment

Both verbs, memoror and memini, are Classical and reasonably common, with the former seeming slightly more common (according to searches that could be noisy, so don't just trust them blindly).

What is the best way to translate 'remember' into Latin?

5 Answers5