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What comes to mind when thinking of reminisce?
Do you remember, say, the 21st night of September? Fantastic. Earth, Wind, and Fire does, too, on their classic hit from 1978, “September.” More than remember, the band reminisces—that is, they share details and express feelings about what they remember: dancing, a bell ringing, souls singing, et al. Reminisce distinguishes itself from words like remember and recollect by implying a casual recalling of experiences long past, often with a sense of nostalgia. Reminisce and its relatives reminiscence and reminiscent all trace back to the Latin verb reminisci, meaning “remember.” Reminisci in turn shares roots with mens, the Latin word for “mind.”
Examples of reminisce in a Sentence
David Wild, Rolling Stone, 13 May 1993
When relatives reminisce about my great-grandfather, they almost always precede it with some reference to his affection for me.
—Donna Tartt, Harper's, July 1992
We had apple fritters, roast chicken, an enormous lunch, with Mrs. Truman talkative, easy, and the President reminiscing and telling jokes.
—Lady Bird Johnson 2 Sept. 1965,,
A White House Diary, 1970
He reminisced with old buddies at his high school reunion.
She reminisced about her time in Europe.
EW.com, 1 Sep. 2025
The Kim’s Video Underground excavation also prompted some fond reminiscing on the days of VHS tapes and video rental stores.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 27 Aug. 2025
Researchers investigated how reminiscing about positive memories buffers acute stress responses.
—Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 25 Aug. 2025
Kevin and Auggie, mistaking Chris for their dimension’s Chris, sit down with him for a drink and begin to reminisce.
—Adam B. Vary, Variety, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for reminisce
Cite this Entry
“Reminisce.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reminisce. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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reminisce
verb
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