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# mnemonic

noun (a mnemonic, mnemonics); adjective (mnemonic)

«mnemonic» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A mnemonic is a trick that helps you remember something, like a rhyme, a saying or a word made from first letters. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mnemonic/#m1)
2. Mnemonic means helping the memory. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mnemonic/#m2)

### In the lessons

In school mnemonics are everywhere: «Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain» for rainbow colours (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet), «Never Eat Shredded Wheat» for compass points, «BIDMAS/PEMDAS» for order of operations in maths, «Big Elephants Can Always Understand Small Elephants» to spell «because». Phrases: «a mnemonic for», «use a mnemonic».

### Examples

- «Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain» is a mnemonic for the rainbow. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mnemonic/#x1)
- BIDMAS is a mnemonic for the order of operations. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mnemonic/#x2)
- «Never Eat Shredded Wheat» helps you remember North, East, South, West. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mnemonic/#x3)
- I made up a mnemonic to remember the planets. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mnemonic/#x4)
- «Thirty days hath September» is a mnemonic rhyme. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mnemonic/#x5)
- A mnemonic helped me spell «necessary»: one collar, two sleeves. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mnemonic/#x6)

### Note

The first «m» is silent: said «nih-MON-ik». Countable. From Greek «mnēmē» (memory). In maths: BIDMAS (UK), BODMAS, PEMDAS (US) all mean brackets/parentheses first, then powers, then × and ÷ left to right, then + and − left to right.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «mnemonic» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mnemonic/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«mnemonic» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/mnemonic.html) on Mova free.