reminiscence
Dwelling on yesterday
Reminiscence is the act of recalling past experiences, or the memory itself: She shared reminiscences of her childhood in the country.
The word suggests pleasant, often nostalgic reflection rather than neutral recollection.
In the plural, reminiscences are collected memories, sometimes published as informal memoirs.
To indulge in reminiscence is to linger in the past.
Tender sadness for absence
- longingIntense, persistent desire
- homesicknessLonging for one's dwelling
- melancholySubdued, lasting sadness
- hiraethBittersweet ache for lost home
yearning · pining · bittersweet · ache · fondness · sentimentality · heartfelt · tender
Image from a camera
- sepiaReddish-brown pigment
- polaroidSelf-developing photograph
- keepsakeItem preserved for sentiment
- mementoToken of recollection
souvenir · heirloom · memorabilia · album · portrait · relic · trinket · love letter
Memory retrieval act
- rememberingRetaining past information
- recollectionRecalled mental image
- flashbackInvoluntary past memory
- mind's eyeInternal visualization capacity
mental replay · retrieval · anamnesis · episodic · autobiographical · reawaken · rekindle · revisit
Brief account of incident
- memoirWritten personal recollection
- narrativeAccount of events
- oral historyRecorded interviews about the past
- taleSpoken or written narrative
chronicle · recounting · sharing · grandparent · war stories · fireside · gathering · retelling
Observing one's own mind
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- musingReflective contemplation
- ponderingThinking deeply about something
- ruminationProlonged, repetitive thinking
meditation · brooding · thoughtfulness · reverie · daydream · cogitation · looking back · retrospection
wistfulness
Tender sadness for absence
- longingIntense, persistent desire
- homesicknessLonging for one's dwelling
- melancholySubdued, lasting sadness
hiraeth · yearning · pining · bittersweet · ache · fondness · sentimentality · heartfelt · tender · touching
photograph
Image from a camera
memento · souvenir · heirloom · memorabilia · album · portrait · relic · trinket · love letter · postcard
recall
Memory retrieval act
- rememberingRetaining past information
- recollectionRecalled mental image
- flashbackInvoluntary past memory
mind's eye · mental replay · retrieval · anamnesis · episodic · autobiographical · reawaken · rekindle · revisit · mnemonic
anecdote
Brief account of incident
- memoirWritten personal recollection
- narrativeAccount of events
- oral historyRecorded interviews about the past
tale · chronicle · recounting · sharing · grandparent · war stories · fireside · gathering · retelling · autobiography
introspection
Observing one's own mind
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- musingReflective contemplation
- ponderingThinking deeply about something
rumination · meditation · brooding · thoughtfulness · reverie · daydream · cogitation · looking back · retrospection · self-examination
scent
Airborne odor detected
melody · song · taste · texture · sound · trigger · evocative · Proustian · madeleine · familiar
- memoryremember, forget, recall, memorize, recollect
- storytellingstorytelling, story, tale, narrative, narrator
- pastago, before, once, previously, prior
- autobiographymemoir, life story, diary, journal, personal narrative
- memoirsmemoir, memoirs, autobiography, autobiographies, life story
- memoriesmemories, remember, recollections, childhood memory, childhood memories
reminiscenceanticipation
State of awaiting something
prognostication · forecast · prognostic · prediction · expectation
reminiscenceforgetfulness
Failure to retain information
oblivion · amnesia · forgetting · repression · memory loss
reminiscencemindfulness
Awareness of the present
living in the moment · presence · here and now · immediacy · nowness