Memory is the ability of the mind to store, keep, and recall information, experiences, and skills. It can also mean a specific thing that you remember, or the part of a computer that stores data.
From Old French “memoire”, from Latin “memoria” meaning 'memory, remembrance', from “memor” 'mindful'. The mental sense is ancient, while the computing sense was borrowed in the 20th century by analogy. Both rely on the idea of storing and retrieving information.
We casually use one word for both human memory and computer memory, but they work in wildly different ways—one is living, fuzzy, and creative; the other is rigid and exact. The Latin root 'memor' just meant 'mindful', not 'perfect photo archive', which fits how human memory really behaves.
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