Definition of MEME

meme

Plural: memes

Noun

  • 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)
    • "memes are the cultural counterpart of genes"
  • Any unit of (originally cultural) information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another in a comparable way to the transmission of genes.
  • Media, usually humorous, which is copied and circulated online with slight adaptations, such as basic pictures, video templates, etc.
  • A specific instance of a meme, such as an image macro or a video, often with humorous superimposed text.
  • Something which is deceptive; a trick, a ruse.
  • Something not to be taken seriously; a joke.
  • A work produced and shared in response to a prompt or suggestion within an online group.
  • granny; nana

Verb

  • To create and use humorous memes.
  • To turn into a meme; to use a meme, especially to achieve a goal in real life.
  • To joke around.

Examples

  • "anon meme"
  • "He posted a meme that went viral within a few hours on social media."
  • "I can't believe I fell for the bulking meme."
  • "I'm always posting memes on the groupchat."
  • "It's a meme degree, you know. Good luck getting a job from that."
  • "Jogging is a meme."
  • "kink meme"
  • "This meme generator lets you make your own memes by adding a caption to existing images, or by uploading your own image."

Origin / Etymology

Shortened from mimeme, equivalent to mime + -eme.
Coined by British biologist Richard Dawkins in 1976 in his book The Selfish Gene. Shortened (after gene) from mimeme (compare English phoneme), anglicized as if from a noun derived from Ancient Greek μῑμέομαι (mīméomai) with the deverbal suffix -μα (-ma), from μῖμος (mîmos, “imitation, copy”). The concept was later applied to the Internet by Mike Godwin.

Synonyms

culturgen, memeify

Scrabble Score: 8

meme is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
meme is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
meme is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

meme is a valid Words With Friends word