memorandum

See also: Memorandum, mémorandum, and memorándum

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin memorandum, neuter of memorandus (“to be remembered”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌmɛm.əˈɹæn.dəm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

memorandum (plural memorandums or memoranda)

1. A short note serving as a reminder.
   • 1821, Thomas De Quincey, Confessions of an English Opium-Eater:

     ....be more difficult or uncertain than it had been for so many weeks, I had scarcely for a moment adverted to it as necessary, or placed it amongst my memoranda against this parting interview; and my final anxieties being spent in comforting her with hopes, and in pressing upon her the necessity of getting some medicines for a violent cough and hoarseness with which she was troubled, I wholly forgot it until it was too late to recall her.

2. A written business communication.
   • 2025 July 28, Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, “Trump administration allows federal workers to promote religious beliefs”, in CNN‎^[1]:

     The Trump administration will allow federal workers to promote their religious beliefs to colleagues, display religious items at work and pray together or individually, according to a memorandum issued Monday by the Office of Personnel Management.

3. A brief diplomatic communication.
4. A page in an annual publication honoring the memory of a person who died during the past year.

Derived terms

• countermemorandum
• hortatory memorandum
• memo
• Memorandist
• memorandize
• memorandum for record
• memorandum for the record
• memoranduming
• memorandum of agreement
• memorandum of association
• memorandum of understanding
• memorandum opinion
• presidential memorandum

Related terms

• memoir
• memorate
• memorial
• memory

Translations

short note serving as a reminder

• Arabic: مُذَكِرَة (muḏakirah)
• Bulgarian: беле́жка (bg) f (beléžka), запи́ска (bg) f (zapíska)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 備忘錄 / 备忘录 (zh) (bèiwànglù)

• Estonian: meelespea (et)
• Finnish: muistio (fi)
• French: mémorandum (fr) m
• German: Memorandum (de) n
• Greek: μνημόνιο (el) n (mnimónio), υπόμνημα (el) n (ypómnima)

  Ancient Greek: ὑπόμνημα n (hupómnēma)

• Hindi: याददाश्त (hi) f (yāddāśt)
• Japanese: メモ (ja) (memo), 備忘録 (ja) (びぼうろく, bibōroku), 忘備録 (ぼうびろく, bōbiroku)
• Korean: 비망록(備忘錄) (ko) (bimangnok), 메모 (ko) (memo)
• Macedonian: бе́лешка f (béleška), за́писка f (zápiska)
• Norwegian: promemoria m or n
• Polish: notatka (pl) f, zapisek (pl) m
• Portuguese: lembrete (pt) m
• Russian: заме́тка (ru) f (zamétka), запи́ска (ru) f (zapíska), мемора́ндум (ru) m (memorándum)
• Scottish Gaelic: cuimhneachan m
• Sindhi: ياداشاتنامو (yādāśātnāmo)
• Spanish: memorándum (es) m, memorando (es) m
• Swedish: promemoria (sv) c
• Tagalog: paandam, sulat-paalaala
• Turkish: muhtıra (tr)

  Ottoman Turkish: تذكره (tezkere), پوصوله (pusula)

• Welsh: cofnod (cy) m

written business communication

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 備忘錄 / 备忘录 (zh) (bèiwànglù)

• Dutch: notitie (nl)
• Finnish: muistio (fi)
• French: mémorandum (fr) m
• German: Memorandum (de) n
• Greek: μνημόνιο (el) n (mnimónio), υπόμνημα (el) n (ypómnima)
• Hindi: ज्ञापन (hi) m (jñāpan)
• Japanese: 覚書 (ja) (おぼえがき, oboegaki)
• Korean: 비망록(備忘錄) (ko) (bimangnok)
• Portuguese: memorando (pt) m
• Russian: служе́бная запи́ска f (služébnaja zapíska), докладна́я запи́ска f (dokladnája zapíska), докладна́я (ru) f (dokladnája)
• Sindhi: ياداشاتنامو (yādāśātnāmo)
• Spanish: memorándum (es) m, memorando (es) m
• Tagalog: paandam

brief diplomatic communication

• Armenian: հուշագիր (hy) (hušagir)
• Belarusian: мемара́ндум m (mjemarándum), мэмара́ндум m (memarándum), но́та f (nóta)
• Bulgarian: но́та (bg) f (nóta)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 照會 / 照会 (zh) (zhàohuì)

• Finnish: muistio (fi)
• French: mémorandum (fr) m
• German: Memorandum (de) n
• Greek: μνημόνιο (el) n (mnimónio), υπόμνημα (el) n (ypómnima)
• Hindi: ज्ञापन (hi) m (jñāpan)
• Japanese: 覚書 (ja) (おぼえがき, oboegaki)
• Macedonian: но́та f (nóta), мемора́ндум m (memorándum)
• Polish: memorandum (pl) n
• Portuguese: memorando (pt) m
• Russian: мемора́ндум (ru) m (memorándum), (дипломати́ческая) но́та (ru) f (nóta)
• Sindhi: ياداشاتنامو (yādāśātnāmo)
• Spanish: memorándum (es) m, memorando (es) m
• Swedish: promemoria (sv) c
• Tagalog: paandam
• Ukrainian: мемора́ндум m (memorándum), но́та (uk) f (nóta)

Further reading

• “memorandum”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “memorandum”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin memorandum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌmeː.moːˈrɑn.dʏm/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: me‧mo‧ran‧dum

Noun

memorandum n (plural memoranda, no diminutive)

1. memorandum (reminder, short note)

Derived terms

• memo

Italian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin memorandum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /me.moˈran.dum/
• Rhymes: -andum
• Hyphenation: me‧mo‧ràn‧dum

Noun

memorandum m (invariable)

1. memorandum

Latin

Participle

memorandum

1. inflection of memorandus:
   1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular
   2. accusative masculine singular

Maltese

Alternative forms

• memorandu

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian memorandum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛ.mɔˈran.dum/
• Rhymes: -andum

Noun

memorandum m (plural memoranda)

1. memorandum

Related terms

• immemorabbli
• memorabbli
• memorja
• memorjal

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin memorandum.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɛ.mɔˈran.dum/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -andum
• Syllabification: me‧mo‧ran‧dum

Noun

memorandum n

1. memorandum (diplomatic letter without address, signature, and seal, generally presenting the state's views on the factual or legal side of the issues under negotiation and typically containing a repetition or supplement to a statement made orally, or to a conversation held)

   Synonym: aide-mémoire

Declension

Declension of memorandum

	singular	plural
nominative	memorandum	memoranda
genitive	memorandum	memorandów
dative	memorandum	memorandom
accusative	memorandum	memoranda
instrumental	memorandum	memorandami
locative	memorandum	memorandach
vocative	memorandum	memoranda

Further reading

• “memorandum”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎^[2] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• “memorandum”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎^[3] (in Polish)
• memorandum in PWN's encyclopedia

Romanian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin memorandum.

Noun

memorandum n (plural memorandumuri)

1. memorandum

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	memorandum	memorandumul	memorandumuri	memorandumurile
genitive-dative	memorandum	memorandumului	memorandumuri	memorandumurilor
vocative	memorandumule		memorandumurilor

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /memorǎndum/
• Hyphenation: me‧mo‧ran‧dum

Noun

memoràndum m inan (Cyrillic spelling мемора̀ндум)

1. memorandum
2. letterhead

Declension

Declension of memorandum

	singular	plural
nominative	memorandum	memorandumi
genitive	memoranduma	memoranduma
dative	memorandumu	memorandumima
accusative	memorandum	memorandume
vocative	memorandume	memorandumi
locative	memorandumu	memorandumima
instrumental	memorandumom	memorandumima

Swedish

Noun

memorandum n

1. a memorandum

Declension

Declension of memorandum

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	memorandum	memorandums
	definite	memorandumet	memorandumets
plural	indefinite	memorandum	memorandums
	definite	memorandumen	memorandumens

References

• “memorandum”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “memorandum”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “memorandum”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)