mnemicadj.
/ˈniːmɪk/, U.S. /ˈnimɪk/ Psychology and Physiology.
Relating to, of the nature of, or involving mneme.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > experimental psychology > conditioning > capacity for retention > [adjective]
mnemic1908
1908 Daily Chron. 3 Sept. 5/7 Alleging the existence of a mnemic factor in the life of plants.
1913 M. Hartog Probl. Life & Reprod. 275 The mnemic possibilities of an organism may be termed, collectively, its ‘mneme’.
1943 A. M. Farrer Finite & Infinite xvii. 201 The mnemic content, which disposes us to attention in one direction rather than another, because certain elements of memory are pressing closest to the gate.
1963 O. L. Zangwill tr. A. R. Luria Restoration of Function after Brain Injury vi. 213 The patient retained the content of this particular thought, and..his difficulties were dynamic in nature rather than mnemic.
1968 S. Bogoch Biochem. Memory vi. 194 That is, the glycoproteins of the nervous system represent the mnemic substances in which experiential information is encoded.
1981 D. M. Thomas White Hotel iii. 139 She developed symptoms of breathlessness and asthma—perhaps a mnemic symbol of choking in a fire.
Derivatives
ˈmnemically adv. rare
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > experimental psychology > conditioning > capacity for retention > [adverb]
mnemically1925
1925 C. D. Broad Mind & its Place viii. 377 Experiences which are owned in senses (2) or (3) may be said to be ‘mnemically owned’.
ˈmnemicness n. rare
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > experimental psychology > conditioning > capacity for retention > [noun]
mneme1913
mnemicness1941
1941 Mind 50 417 The only perceptible difference between conscious and non-conscious behaviour is mnemicness.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1908