muisti

Muisti is the Finnish noun for memory. In everyday language it refers to the faculty by which people and other organisms encode, store, and retrieve information, as well as to the capacity of a device to retain data. The term is used across contexts from psychology and neuroscience to information technology.

In humans, memory involves several stages: encoding, consolidation, storage, and retrieval. Researchers distinguish different forms of memory by duration and content, including short-term or working memory and longer-lasting memory. Within long-term memory, people commonly distinguish between factual knowledge and personal experience, though terminology varies by field. Memory is influenced by attention, learning methods, sleep, stress, and aging, and it is known to be fallible: memories can change or fade over time, and recollection can be influenced by new information or bias.

In technology and computing, muisti refers to hardware or media that store data, such as memory chips, RAM, ROM, or other storage devices. The capacity and speed of a system's muisti affect performance and data availability.

As a broader cultural concept, muisti also appears in discussions of history and collective memory, where societies reflect on past events to shape identity and continuity. The Finnish language uses muisti in many phrases about remembering or recalling past experiences, and it is a common topic in both education and science.