Wiktionary

core memory

English

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1KB core memory module (1961)
 
core memory closeup
 
diagram of a single core memory element

Etymology

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  • (sense 1): From being a type of computer memory consisting of magnetic cores.
  • (sense 2): Popularized by the 2015 Pixar film Inside Out, in which the character Riley has five "core memories", each forming the foundation of a "personality island" which represents an aspect of Riley's personality.

Noun

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core memory (countable and uncountable, plural core memories)

  1. (computing, historical, countable, uncountable) A type of non-volatile random-access rewritable electronic memory using ferrite cores to magnetically store binary digits (bits).
    Synonyms: core, magnetic core memory, ferrite core memory
    • 2014, Subrata Dasgupta, It Began with Babbage, Oxford University Press, →ISBN:
      Wilkes, on his visit to America in summer and fall 1950 had witnessed the core memory being implemented on the Whirlwind at MIT—and as in the case of seeing the control matrix in the same machine, this made a strong impression on him.
  2. (countable, informal) A memory, especially one formed in childhood, which recalls a deeply significant event in one's life and can be remembered years later.
    My high school graduation is a core memory.
    • 1975, David Binder, “Who Is Willy Brandt?”, in The Other German: Willy Brandt’s Life & Times, Washington, D.C.: The New Republic Book Company, Inc., →ISBN, pages 16–17:
      Grandfather Frahm told young Herbert how his father had been held over a trestle and whipped repeatedly for disobedience, as if serfdom persisted. That had made a lasting imprint on Ludwig Frahm, and the recounting of it made an indelible impression on the grandson, who tells it as one of the core memories of his Lübeck childhood.
    • 1995, Robert Atkinson, “Giving Yourself Your Own Story: Writing Autobiographically”, in The Gift of Stories: Practical and Spiritual Applications of Autobiography, Life Stories, and Personal Mythmaking, Westport, Conn.; London: Bergin & Garvey, →ISBN, section II (The Gift of Stories), page 58:
      Our real, inner, deep feelings are our own best teachers about who we really are. We may most often find these in our memories of childhood. It is there that many of our most deeply felt, core experiences lie. These and other memories of our most meaningful moments since childhood will be the fuel for the most powerful, moving writing we will ever do. Writing about these core memories takes us right back to those feelings we had then as well as how we are feeling about them now.
    • 2003, Floyd Skloot, “Counteracting the Powers of Darkness”, in In the Shadow of Memory (American Lives), Lincoln, Neb.; London: University of Nebraska Press, →ISBN, part 3 (A Measure of Acceptance), page 173:
      My core memories of childhood contain nothing but concrete, brick, cement, steel. Brooklyn is surrounded by the water, jutting into the Atlantic at Coney Island, bordered by the Upper and Lower New York Bays to the west and Jamaica Bay to the east, separated from Manhattan by the East River. Brooklyn had beaches, which had sand, which got tracked into houses laden with vileness. No, for us the borough was so densely urban that the notion of “land” or “sea” never arose. Earth was the name of the planet, not the surface of the world; soil, like dirt, was a bad thing.
    • 2006, Denis Ledoux, Turning Memories Into Memoirs: A Handbook for Writing Lifestories, 3rd edition, Lisbon Falls, Me.: Soleil Press, →ISBN, page 43:
      If life teaches us anything, it’s that we don’t have inexhaustible energy and time. It is perfectly possible to run out of both before we get all our stories written. With this in mind, because you have compiled the Core Memory List, you can identify your most important lifestories—the ones about the prime relationships and events of your life—and concentrate on writing these first. These few core memories serve well as the backbone of your longer lifewriting project. The peripheral stories can be dealt with later—as time and energy permit.
    • 2014 January 18, Angela Quinton (@aquinton), Twitter‎[1], archived from the original on 10 October 2024:
      One of my core memories is a boat trip with Matt, Simon, Rob & friends on Harrison Lake. Some part of that sunrise shore is still in me.
    • 2014 July 4, Chris Chance! Brown, Looking for work! (@chance_second), Twitter‎[2], archived from the original on 10 October 2024:
      @Sleestak @parva_x @heythisisbrian I don't know how it happened or why it happened, but that is like a core memory of my childhood
    • [2015, Inside Out, spoken by Joy (Amy Poehler):
      These are Riley's memories—and they're mostly happy, you'll notice, not to brag. But the really important ones are over here. I don't want to get too technical, but these are called core memories. Each one came from a super important time in Riley's life. Like when she first scored a goal? That was so amazing!]
    • 2017 March 3, Cheryl Hawrychuk, “Worry, Weight, and Wasted Time…..”, in HuffPost‎[3], archived from the original on 26 May 2023:
      We all have a journey in life….mine has been a struggle with food. I know when it started. I was in Grade 5, not much older than my eldest son. Unfortunately, for me, it’s one of my ‘core memories’….
    • 2018, Dianna T. Kenny, Children, Sexuality, and Child Sexual Abuse, Routledge, →ISBN:
      Recall the case of Rebecca from Chapter 8 who retained core memories of multiple instances of abuse when she was 3 and 4 years old over a 12-year period.
    • 2019, Ravi Kailas, Cathy Guo, Myth of the Entrepreneur: A Search for True Value, HarperCollins, →ISBN:
      Why was it, then, that no thought of any of the companies I had created crossed my mind in the face of death? Why were they not the core memories and achievements my mind retrieved when scanning the past?
    • 2019, Nancy Gershman, Barbara E. Thompson, editors, Prescriptive Memories in Grief and Loss: The Art of Dreamscaping, Routledge, →ISBN:
      A few weeks later I glance at my dreamscape, still sitting near my computer and connect my dreamscape experience to a core memory: my 12-year old[sic] self stands in front of the class, shamed by the teacher for not knowing the answer.
    • 2019, Traci Lengel, Jenna Evans, The Movement and Technology Balance: Classroom Strategies for Student Success, Corwin, →ISBN:
      In your classroom, students will develop core memories based on past events, current experiences, and relationships.
    • 2021, Jodi Thomas [pseudonym; Jodi Koumalats], Dinner on Primrose Hill, Zebra Books, →ISBN, page 219:
      Now and then Ketch almost felt he had a memory of being adrift on the sea. Maybe it was a core memory of the day he was born.
    • 2022, Kosoko Jackson, A Dash of Salt and Pepper, Berkley, →ISBN, page 342:
      As I turn to walk out, my face slams right into something firm and hard. I hiss, a string of curses coming out of my mouth, my bag dropping from my shoulder. / “Shit, sorry,” Logan says, picking up the bag from the floor. “You okay?” / No. I’m not okay. At least my nose isn’t bleeding; that’s a core memory right there.
    • 2022, DeuxMoi, Jessica Goodman, Anon Pls., William Morrow and Company, →ISBN:
      The whole day is morphing into one of those core memories I know will haunt me when I least expect it, years from now, way after I’ve entered a new chapter where working for Sasha Sherman feels like a bad dream.
    • 2022, Ariella Nyssa, Ariella Nyssa’s Self-Love Bible, Allen & Unwin, →ISBN:
      Our brains are intricately created and our consciousness is so incredible that we analyse situations, store core memories and instil a sense of who we are — all in that beautiful thinking and feeling organ.
    • 2022, Cheryl M-M’s Book Blog, quotee, “Beta Reader Reviews”, in Harry Duffin, Island of Dreams, Cumulus Publishing, →ISBN:
      When it comes to ideals, politics and beliefs – even at such a young age core memories have left their mark.
    • 2022, Emma Carey, The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, Allen & Unwin, →ISBN:
      We had shared everything: clothes, childhoods, core memories, tears—but what we were experiencing now was unlike all the years that came before.
    • 2022 November 9, Melanie Aman, “35 Gifts To Give If You Want To Be Remembered As A Great Gift-Giver By Your Family”, in BuzzFeed‎[4], archived from the original on 9 November 2022:
      You're about to make some core memories for folks.
    • 2022 December 13, Sarah Vulpio, “What Exactly Is A Core Memory?”, in Glam‎[5], archived from the original on 14 December 2022:
      What constitutes a "core memory" depends on which moments you feel have contributed to creating the person you are today.
    • 2023 May 18, Amber Sampson, “Highlights of Las Vegas' inaugural Sick New World fest included Kittie, Deftones”, in Las Vegas Weekly‎[6], archived from the original on 26 May 2023:
      “Scars” revealed a more tempered side of the Papa Roach frontman, seemingly unlocking a core memory for a lot of concert goers because everyone, with as much pain as they could muster, screamed the song-defining lines “Go. Fix. Yourself!”
    • 2023 May 22, Ashley Vega, “NOSTALGIC CHIC ROXY x Kate Bosworth: Where can I buy the Blue Crush-inspired collection?”, in The U.S. Sun‎[7], archived from the original on 26 May 2023:
      CLOTHING brand ROXY unlocked a core memory for millennials with their newest collection.
    • 2023 May 23, Delia Cai, “In Disney’s American Born Chinese, Asian-American Storytelling Has a Conversation With Itself”, in Vanity Fair‎[8], archived from the original on 24 May 2023:
      (The brief appearance of the character Zhu Bajie, hilariously translated as “Pigsy,” unlocked a core memory for me.)

Hypernyms

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Coordinate terms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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