Source etymology 1 · variant 1/2
Original entry ↗verb
Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventoryTo 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.
Clipping of 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.
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{
"templates": [
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":clip",
"3": "mimeme",
"id": "unit of culture",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": "[Appendix:Glossary#clipping|Clipping]] of\", \"terms\" : [ { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"mimeme\", \"status\" : \"missing\", \"lang\" : \"en\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"clipping\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"meme\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-id=\"unit of culture\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"meme\" id=\"English:_unit_of_culture\">"
},
{
"name": "clipping",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "mimeme"
},
"expansion": "Clipping of mimeme"
},
{
"name": "suf",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "mime",
"3": "eme"
},
"expansion": "mime + -eme"
},
{
"name": "coin",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "Richard Dawkins",
"nat": "British",
"occ": "biologist",
"in": "1976"
},
"expansion": "Coined by British biologist Richard Dawkins in 1976"
},
{
"name": "cog",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "phoneme"
},
"expansion": "English phoneme"
},
{
"name": "der",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "grc",
"3": "μῑμέομαι"
},
"expansion": "Ancient Greek μῑμέομαι (mīméomai)"
},
{
"name": "etymon",
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": ":clip",
"3": "mimeme",
"id": "unit of culture",
"tree": "1"
},
"expansion": ""
}
],
"links": [
[
"mimeme",
"mimeme#English"
],
[
"mime",
"mime#English"
],
[
"-eme",
"-eme#English"
],
[
"gene",
"gene#English"
],
[
"mimeme",
"mimeme#English"
],
[
"phoneme",
"phoneme#English"
],
[
"μῑμέομαι",
"μιμέομαι#Ancient_Greek"
],
[
"-μα",
"-μα#Ancient_Greek"
],
[
"μῖμος",
"μῖμος#Ancient_Greek"
]
],
"references": [],
"descendants": [],
"lexical": [
{
"pos": "verb",
"glosses": [
"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."
],
"tags": [
"Internet",
"intransitive",
"transitive",
"broadly"
],
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"rawRecordSha256": "1752e87fdd2fc65606b40ad1933d3afa6b8e0c871611a21f542a40c339c499b3",
"sourceRecordOrdinal": 180635
}
],
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}