a. [ Pref. im- not + memorial: cf. F. immémorial. ] Extending beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition; indefinitely ancient; as, existing from time immemorial. “Immemorial elms.” Tennyson. “Immemorial usage or custom.” Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]

Time immemorial (Eng. Law.), a time antedating (legal) history, and beyond “legal memory” so called; formerly an indefinite time, but in 1276 this time was fixed by statute as the begining of the reign of Richard I. (1189). Proof of unbroken possession or use of any right since that date made it unnecessary to establish the original grant. In 1832 the plan of dating legal memory from a fixed time was abandoned and the principle substituted that rights which had been enjoyed for full twenty years (or as against the crown thirty years) should not be liable to impeachment merely by proving that they had not been enjoyed before. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Beyond memory. Bentley. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. mémorial, L. memorialis, fr. memoria. See Memory. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Serving to preserve remembrance; commemorative; as, a memorial building. [ 1913 Webster ]

There high in air, memorial of my name,
Fix the smooth oar, and bid me live to fame. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Contained in memory; as, a memorial possession. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Mnemonic; assisting the memory. [ 1913 Webster ]

This succession of Aspirate, Soft, and Hard, may be expressed by the memorial word ASH. Skeat. [ 1913 Webster ]

Memorial Day. See Memorial Day in the vocabulary. Also called Decoration Day. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

n. [ Cf. F. mémorial. ] 1. Anything intended to preserve the memory of a person or event; something which serves to keep something else in remembrance; a monument. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

Churches have names; some as memorials of peace, some of wisdom, some in memory of the Trinity itself. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A memorandum; a record. [ Obs. or R. ] Hayward. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A written representation of facts, addressed to the government, or to some branch of it, or to a society, etc., -- often accompanied with a petition. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Memory; remembrance. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Precious is the memorial of the just. Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Diplomacy) A species of informal state paper, much used in negotiation. [ 1913 Webster ]

. 1. A day, originally May 30, appointed for commemorating, by decorating their graves with flowers, by patriotic exercises, etc., the dead soldiers and sailors who served the Civil War (1861-65) in the United States; Also called Decoration Day. It is a legal holiday in most of the States. In the Southern States, the Confederate Memorial Day is: May 30 in Virginia; April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; May 10 in North Carolina and South Carolina; the second Friday in May in Tennessee; June 3 in Louisiana. [ U. S. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. A day designated for commemoration of all of the war dead of the United States, clebrated on the last Monday in May in most states. It supersedes the original Memorial Day celebrated May 30th. [ PJC ]

v. t. Same as memorialize. [ Chiefly Brit. ] [ PJC ]

n. [ Cf. F. mémorialiste. ] One who writes or signs a memorial. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Memorialized p. pr. & vb. n. Memorializing ] To address or petition by a memorial; to present a memorial to; as, to memorialize the legislature. T. Hook. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who petitions by a memorial. T. Hook. [ 1913 Webster ]

. A Japanese evergreen rose (Rosa wichuraiana) with creeping branches, shining leaves, and single white flowers. It is often planted in cemeteries. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]