A meme is an idea or habit that's passed between people and generations through imitation. An example of a meme is the cultural tradition of women wearing skirts.
- Pronunciation: / mim/
- English description: a cultural unit (an idea or value or pattern of behavior) that is passed from one person to another by non-genetic means (as by imitation)
- Synonyms: tradition
- Chinese Translation: 文化基因(wen2 hua4 ji1 yin1)
- Spanish Translation: la tradición
- ORIGIN: A cultural idea, value, habit, or even something like a tune is a memeif it is picked up from someone else. A meme, which is pronounced "meem," will change over time, like younger kids who want to wear the exact same clothes but who eventually develop their own, though similar, styles. Recently, meme has become commonly used to refer to Internet memes — pictures, videos, or even slang words that are shared between Internet users.
EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
- The video has gone viral, spawning countless memes and derivatively showcasing the septuagenerian’s work to audiences who never heard of him.
- Microsoft generated its own meme earlier this year when it tried to guess everyone's age.
*New word description, story and part of "EXAMPLE SENTENCE" are cited in Vocabulary.com