A method for driving a reference cell of the nonvolatile ferroelectric memory device, wherein the reference cell includes a switching block controlled by a reference wordline signal, a level initiating block which selectively initiates a level of an input terminal of the switching block after receiving a reference equalizer signal, and a plurality of ferroelectric capacitors connected in parallel between the input terminal of the switching block and a reference plate line, the method comprising:
- transiting a chip enable signal from high level to low level by an external control signal;
- activating the reference plate line to low level for a first period where the chip enable signal is transited to low level;
- and
- activating the reference wordline to high level for a second period where the reference plate line is transited from low level to high level while the chip enable signal is activated to low level.