core memory

Meanings

1. A type of non-volatile random-access rewritable electronic memory using ferrite cores to magnetically store binary digits (bits).
2. A memory, especially one formed in childhood, which recalls a deeply significant event in one's life and can be remembered years later.

Etymology

* (sense 1): From being a type of computer memory consisting of magnetic cores. * (sense 2): Popularized by the Pixar film Inside Out (2015), in which the character Riley has five "core memories", each forming the foundation of a "personality island" which represents an aspect of Riley's personality.