meme
Cultural unit that spreads person to person by imitation.
Meaning
A meme is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by imitation from person to person. It carries symbolic meaning about a phenomenon or theme. Supporters describe memes as cultural analogues to genes because they replicate, mutate, and face selection.
Origin
The supplied extract does not name a first video, post, or account. No month or year for coinage appears in the provided material. In popular language the term now means an internet image or joke format. The exact origin is therefore stated here as unknown from the supplied source.
How it's used
People use it for image macros, catchphrases, gestures, and rituals transmitted in writing and speech. It functions as a countable noun with plural memes. Writers say a meme spreads, mutates, or dies.
Example
She sent a meme that copied the same joke format with new text.
Variants & related
Spelling is stable as meme and memes in English. Related forms include internet meme, memetic, and meme stock. Opposite concepts named explicitly are original creation and one-off joke.
Common misunderstandings
Outsiders use meme for any funny image, even without imitation. The gene analogy is descriptive, not biological inheritance. The term is neutral and not inherently offensive.