commemorare

Commemorare is a Latin verb of the first conjugation that means to call to mind, recall, mention, recount, or to commemorate. In classical and later Latin it can indicate simply recalling an event or fact, or deliberately honoring a person or occasion by remembering and recording it. The sense often extends from memory to ceremonial or literary use, as when a speaker recalls past events or when a text commemorates a person.

Etymology and related forms: the verb is built from com- (a variant of 'with') and memorare, itself from memoria, memory. The form commemorāre thus literally "to bring to memory." Nouns such as commemoratio (a commemoration) and participles like commemorans or commemoratus derive from the same root.

Conjugation and usage: commemorare is a first-conjugation verb. The principal parts are commemorō, commemorāre, commemorāvī, commemorātum. In the present indicative one finds commemorō, commemorās, commemorat; in the imperfect commemorābam, commemorābās, commemorābat; in the perfect commemorāvī, commemorāvistī, commemorāvit, etc. It is typically used transitively with a direct object in the accusative to denote what is recalled or mentioned, though the exact argument structure can vary with nuance. In religious or ceremonial texts it frequently means to honor by memory, as in commemoration of a feast day or saint.

See also: commemoratio, commemoratus, commemorans, commemoration.

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