Memorialization

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The action of creating a tribute or recognition to honor notable individuals or events encompasses various methods of preserving memories and their significance
2. The process of establishing a tribute to keep the memory of a person or event alive and respected
3. Doing something to remember and pay respect to someone or something important from the past

Etymology: "Memorialization" is a plain English formation: "memorialize" with the noun-forming suffix "-ation" attached. The verb "memorialize" is itself built from "memorial" (something that serves to keep a person or event in remembrance) and the suffix "-ize," which turns a noun into a verb meaning "to make into, or treat in the manner of, that thing." So to memorialize is to make something into a memorial, and the act of doing so is memorialization. The suffix "-ize" has a long pedigree. It passed from Ancient Greek through Late Latin and Old French into Middle English, which is why it sits behind so many English verbs. The "-ation" ending came the other way round: it descends from Latin "-ātiō," which English borrowed through Old French, so it reached English by way of French rather than directly from Latin.

Synonyms: commemoration, remembrance

Antonyms: forgetting, neglect