Words / B1

MEMW-ah/ˈmemwɑː/

A memoir is a book about the writer’s own life. Autobiography is a close twin, often covering a whole life; a memoir may cover one period. Diary is more private. A-level: a memoir of the miners’ strike.

Meaning

A book in which someone writes about their own life and experiences.

Examples

• “Her memoir of the miners’ strike is on the A-level reading list.”
• “A memoir is still not a peer-reviewed history of the strike.”

Good to know

a memoir. Close: an autobiography. Private: a diary. Literature / history modules. Countable books. Not “memory” (already in the dictionary).

Near in meaning

autobiography

New