memento

noun

me·men·to mə-ˈmen-(ˌ)tō

nonstandard

mō-

plural mementos or mementoes

Synonyms of memento next

: something that serves to warn or remind

a museum filled with war mementos—

Libby Lubin

also : souvenir

mementos of their travels

Did you know?

In Latin, memento is the imperative form (meaning it is used as a command) of meminisse, a verb that means “to remember.” (The term memento mori, which refers to a reminder of mortality, translates literally as “remember that you must die,” for example). The history of memento makes it clear where its spelling came from, but because a memento often helps one remember a particular moment, people occasionally spell the term momento. This is typically considered a misspelling, but it appears often enough in edited prose (including the work of such esteemed authors as George Eliot and Dylan Thomas) to have been entered in most dictionaries as an acceptable variant spelling.

Examples of memento in a Sentence

a collection of photographs and mementos It was a memento of our trip.

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Though the anniversary was earlier this year, Amurri was inspired to discuss filming after finding mementos from the experience. —

Angela Andaloro, People.com, 9 Oct. 2024 Instead of live birds, about 500 little foam turkeys will be tossed from a helicopter to the ground around the San Carlos museum at 11 a.m. Kids — and adults — are welcome to take home the squeezable fowl as a memento, and there’ll also be a turkey hunt inside the museum. —

Sal Pizarro, The Mercury News, 27 Nov. 2024 On the way out, party-goers grabbed Carolina Herrera x Frame matchbook party favors, which were scattered on every surface, as a memento of the rainy but celebratory evening. —

Emily Burns, WWD, 22 Nov. 2024 Keepsakes of the deceased: Personal items, such as playing cards, a watch or eyeglasses or other mementos that belonged to the deceased. —

Ana Rocío Álvarez Bríñez, The Courier-Journal, 1 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for memento