souvenir

noun

sou·​ve·​nir ˈsü-və-ˌnir 

ˌsü-və-ˈnir

: something kept as a reminder (as of a place one has visited)

a souvenir of her travels

a souvenir shop

Synonyms

• commemorative
• keepsake
• memento
• memorial
• monument
• remembrance
• reminder
• token

Examples of souvenir in a Sentence

When I went to the Super Bowl, I kept my ticket stub as a souvenir.

kept their love letters as souvenirs of their courtship

Recent Examples on the Web

Don’t leave without securing a souvenir from the A.B. Newton & Company tent, a local print and design company famous for their regional city map prints. —Kelsey Glennon, Southern Living, 8 Sep. 2024

And, of course as part of that experience, many race fans want to bring home a souvenir. —Bruce Martin, Forbes, 5 Sep. 2024

As the men gawp on lustily and take locks of hair as a souvenir, a tear falls from Teixeira’s defiant mask. —Sophie Monks Kaufman, IndieWire, 3 Sep. 2024

View More The button was a souvenir from her 1984 campaign for vice president of the United States—my mother, Andrea González, was the first Puerto Rican woman to run for national office. —Xochitl Gonzalez, The Atlantic, 12 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

French, literally, act of remembering, from Middle French, from (se) souvenir to remember, from Latin subvenire to come up, come to mind — more at subvention

First Known Use

1782, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing souvenir

• souvenir sheet
• souvenir shop

Kids Definition

souvenir

noun

sou·​ve·​nir ˈsü-və-ˌni(ə)r 

ˌsü-və-ˈni(ə)r

: something that serves as a reminder : memento