Meme Meaning: Definition, Examples, and Translations

Pop Culture

• Memes gained massive popularity in the early 2000s with the rise of social media platforms like Reddit and 4chan.
• Popular memes like 'Doge', 'Distracted Boyfriend', and 'Woman Yelling at a Cat' have become cultural phenomena, often influencing trends.
• Memes are frequently used in marketing, where brands create relatable or humorous content to engage audiences.

Psychology

• Memes can play a role in group identity, as sharing specific memes can create a sense of belonging among members of a community.
• They can also shape perceptions and opinions, subtly influencing how people think about social and political issues.
• Because memes are often humorous, they make serious topics more approachable, helping to engage wider audiences in discussions.

Technology

• The spread of memes is greatly facilitated by the internet, especially social media, making them viral in nature.
• Memes often evolve quickly, with variations and iterations appearing almost instantaneously across platforms.
• Certain platforms like TikTok have transformed the meme landscape by introducing video-based memes, known as challenges or trends.

Literature

• Memes can be seen as modern folklore, with recurring themes, archetypes, and narratives that reflect societal values.
• Scholars compare memes to literary tropes, where certain story elements or phrases are repeated and adapted over time.
• Some poets and authors creatively use memes in their work, blurring the lines between traditional literature and digital art.

Main points about word origin

• The term 'meme' was created by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book, 'The Selfish Gene', to describe how ideas spread.
• It comes from the Greek word 'mīmēma', which means 'that which is imitated'.
• Initially, the concept was not limited to the internet; it encompassed cultural ideas and practices.

The term 'meme' was coined by British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book 'The Selfish Gene'. He derived the word from the Greek 'mimeme', meaning 'that which is imitated'. Dawkins introduced the concept of cultural transmission through memes, suggesting that ideas, behaviors, and styles spread within a culture much like genes do in biology. The rise of the internet has significantly transformed the concept of memes, leading to their contemporary understanding as humorous images, videos, and text that are shared widely online. As people began to use the internet more frequently, particularly on platforms like Reddit, Tumblr, and later Instagram and Twitter, memes evolved into a form of social commentary and a means of communication, encapsulating various cultural phenomena, sentiments, and humor in a bite-sized format.

At rank #25,585, this word represents specialized academic or technical vocabulary. It's less frequently encountered but may be valuable in specific contexts.

• ...
• 25582 medic
• 25583 fastness
• 25585 meme
• 25586 fjord
• 25587 depopulation
• 25588 flippant
• ...