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?

Memento comes from the imperative form of meminisse, a Latin verb that literally means "to remember." (The term memento mori, meaning "a reminder of mortality," translates as "remember that you must die.") 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 usually considered a misspelling, but it appears often enough in edited prose 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

These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

The book can in turn be a coffee table-ready memento of those adventures. —

David Bloom, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024 Finn Wolfhard is eyeing a few mementos to commemorate his many years spent working on Stranger Things. —

Staff Author, EW.com, 14 Oct. 2024 Again, acid-free storage will always be the best solution to maintain mementos for generations to come. —

Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 19 Oct. 2024 Now, Asheville Police Department is asking the public to help connect these precious mementos with their rightful owners. —

Abigail Wilt, Southern Living, 18 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for memento