Dictionary

hyperthymesia en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌhaɪ.pɚ.θaɪˈmi.ʒə/ (General-American)
• /-ʒə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌhaɪ.pə.θaɪˈmiː.zi.ə/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From hyper- (prefix meaning ‘over, beyond; excessive’) + Greek θύμηση (thýmisi, “memory”) + -ia (suffix forming names of diseases).

Meanings

1. (uncountable) A rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory and is able to recall the vast majority of personal events and experiences in life.
   • Others may have some degree of hyperthymesia — they may spend an abnormally large amount of time thinking about their personal past, and have an extraordinary capacity to recall specific events in detail. 2008, Mikita Brottman, The Solitary Vice: Against Reading (A PopMatters Book), Berkeley, Calif.: Counterpoint, →ISBN, page 160:
   • Lesley hadn't been interested in the story, because she didn't think that HSAM (or hyperthymesia, as it was called then) was that rare, having known me for so many years. 2012 November, Marilu Henner, Lorin Henner, Total Memory Makeover: Uncover Your Past, Take Charge of Your Future, trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Gallery Books, →ISBN, page 8:
   • We discussed memory in the previous chapter of this book, and hyperthymesia is the ultimate example of an ability that everyone shares being carried to superhuman lengths—only, it's very human still. 2013, Deepak Chopra, Rudolph E. Tanzi, Super Brain: Unleash the Explosive Power of Your Mind, London: Rider, →ISBN, page 46:
   • Hyperthymesia is also known as superior autobiographical memory. People either have it or they do not, and there are no more than 20 documented cases of people known to have hyperthymesia. [...] Most people diagnosed with hyperthymesia can remember minute details of events from any given day in their past lives, sometimes beginning with puberty but often going back to early childhood. 2013, Annette Kujawski Taylor, “Hyperthymesia”, in Annette Kujawski Taylor, editor, Encyclopedia of Human Memory, volumes 1 (A–D), Santa Barbara, Calif.: Greenwood, →ISBN, pages 547–548:

Deriveds

hyperthymestic syndrome · hyperthymestic

Relateds

photographic memory · hypermnesia · total recall · eidetic memory

Synonyms

hyperthymestic syndrome · superior autobiographical memory · highly superior autobiographical memory

Translations (16)

fi hypertymesia (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory) · it sindrome ipertimesica (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory) · it ipertimesia (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory) · pt síndrome da supermemória (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory) · gl hipertimesia (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory) · cmn 超憶症 /超忆症 (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory) · kmr hîpertîmezî (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory) · de hyperthymestisches Syndrom (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory) · fr hyperthymésie (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory) · ru гипертимезия (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory) · es hipertimesia (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory) · nl hyperthymesia (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory) · pt hipertimesia (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory) · tr hipertimezi (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory) · cs hyperthymesie (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory) · sv hypertymesi (rare condition in which a person possesses a superior autobiographical memory)