meme
Meanings
noun
- Any unit of (originally cultural) information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes.
- Media, usually humorous, which is copied and circulated online with slight adaptations, such as basic pictures, video templates, etc.
- A specific instance of a meme, such as an image macro or a video, often with humorous superimposed text.
- Something which is deceptive; a trick, a ruse.
- Something not to be taken seriously; a joke.
- A work produced and shared in response to a prompt or suggestion within an online group.
verb
- To create and use humorous memes.
- To turn into a meme; to use a meme, especially to achieve a goal in real life.
- To joke around.
noun
- granny; nana
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
Etymology tree English mimemeclip. English meme Clipping of mimeme, equivalent to mime + -eme. Coined by British biologist Richard Dawkins in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene. Shortened (after gene) from mimeme (compare English phoneme), anglicized as if from a noun derived from Ancient Greek μῑμέομαι (mīméomai) with the deverbal suffix -μα (-ma), from μῖμος (mîmos, “imitation, copy”). The concept was later applied to the Internet by Mike Godwin.
Synonyms
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