commemorate
verb
Did you know?
When you remember something, you are mindful of it. And you are especially mindful when you commemorate something, formalizing your remembrance by doing something special, such as attending a parade or taking part in a ceremony. It’s appropriate, therefore, that commemorate and other related memory-associated words (including memorable, memorial, remember, and memory itself) come from the Latin root memor, meaning “mindful.” English speakers have been marking the memory of important events with commemorate since the late 16th century.
Examples of commemorate in a Sentence
Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 31 Dec. 2025
George Chan / Getty Images An hour before midnight, the Bondi Beach massacre victims were commemorated with one minute of silence, while images of a menorah were projected onto the bridge's pylons.
—CBS News, 31 Dec. 2025
How to commemorate a religious sect that was unique, tolerant, forward-thinking, unjustly antagonized—but also short-lived, cultish, poorly documented, and fixated on fire and brimstone?
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 30 Dec. 2025
Many Indigenous peoples, including Oneida, had always commemorated this time of year corresponding with the winter solstice when daylight would finally start increasing.
—Frank Vaisvilas, jsonline.com, 30 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for commemorate
Cite this Entry
“Commemorate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/commemorate. Accessed 3 Jan. 2026.
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commemorate
verb
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