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meme

MEEM /miːm/

nounverbB1

informalneutral

An element of a culture or system of behavior that is passed from one individual to another by non-genetic means, especially an image, video, or text spread rapidly by internet users.

Refers broadly to cultural units of information that undergo variation, replication, and selection, though colloquially it almost always means funny captioned images or short clips online.

The story behind the word. Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins coined 'meme' in his 1976 book 'The Selfish Gene'. He shortened the Greek word 'mimema' (something imitated) to rhyme with 'gene', conceptualizing it as a cultural equivalent to biological genes. Decades later, internet users adopted the term to describe rapidly shared online images and jokes.

Word relationships

trend: 'Trend' refers to a general direction or drift, whereas a 'meme' involves specific copied and mutated content.
fad: 'Fad' emphasizes short-lived enthusiasm, while 'meme' emphasizes the structure of replication and alteration.

anomaly: An anomaly is a unique event that does not replicate or establish cultural patterns.

Commonly confused with

gene: Genes replicate biological information through DNA, whereas memes replicate cultural information through imitation.

Word family

memetic (adjective): Relating to or characterized by memes.
memetics (noun): The study of memes and their social propagation.

Collocations

internet meme
viral meme
meme culture
spawn a meme

Example sentences

"We need a name for the new replicator, a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission... 'meme' comes from a suitable Greek root." Evolutionary Biology / Coining of the term (Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene (1976))
"The viral meme spread across every major social platform within hours, spawning thousands of user-created variations." Digital Culture Analysis

Memory hook

Think of 'me-me' duplicating itself to look like everyone else. Gene replicates life; meme replicates ideas.

When not to use

Avoid using in formal academic papers unless explicitly discussing media theory, sociolinguistics, or evolutionary biology.

Fun facts

Richard Dawkins has publicly stated that internet memes are a slight modification of his original concept, as they are intentionally altered by human creativity rather than undergoing random mutation.

Related words

viral, copypasta, shitpost

Explore more words

viral, mimicry, propagate, Parody, tradition, contagious