memoir

Everyday

1. A book or story someone writes about their own life and memories. tree →
2. (memoirs, plural) A book by a famous person about their life and the events they saw. tree →
3. (formal) A written account of something, often of someone else's life. tree →

In the lessons

In English lessons pupils read and write memoir pieces about real events from their own lives, written in the first person («I»). It tells the reader the story is true and personal. Phrases: write a memoir, a childhood memoir, publish his memoirs.

Examples

• Grandma is writing a memoir about growing up on a farm. tree →
• The footballer published his memoirs. tree →
• We wrote a short memoir about our first day at school. tree →
• A memoir is true and uses «I». tree →
• Her memoir was full of funny stories. tree →
• The explorer's memoir describes his journey across the ice. tree →
• Reading a memoir is like hearing someone remember. tree →
• He spoke with a very slow, distinct voice, as if he was dictating his memoirs, and always looked over the shoulder of the person to whom he was talking. tree →

Note

Countable: memoirs. Said MEM-wahr (from French). Similar: autobiography (a full life story, usually in order); a memoir often focuses on part of a life. Related: memory, memorial.