keepsake

[ keep-seyk ]

noun

1. anything kept, or given to be kept, as a token of friendship or affection; remembrance.

   Synonyms: token, memento, souvenir

keepsake

/ ˈkiːpˌseɪk /

noun

1. a gift that evokes memories of a person or event with which it is associated

Word History and Origins

Origin of keepsake¹

1780–90; keep (v.) + sake ¹

Example Sentences

It came time to figure out how to return the keepsake to the Leiter family in New York City.

From Washington Post

Before the Leiters left the home in Oberdorf, they hid all their valuables and personal items — including their jewelry, some letters and an 1874 edition of the Jewish Bible — in hopes of returning and retrieving their keepsakes.

From Washington Post

The film’s narration characterizes some families as being “appalled that memories of their loved ones are being monetized into tacky branded keepsakes.”

From Time

In addition, she examined actual items enslaved people made and used, uncovering how these keepsakes expressed their experiences and histories.

From Washington Post

In two decades, co-founder Marc Katz built a nearly $500 million business by transforming T-shirts from an article of clothing into an emotional keepsake.

From Washington Post

I had been thinking about a keepsake from the wedding and saw the toast and thought to myself: 'Why not'?

From The Daily Beast

It was to have appeared in Lady Blessington's Keepsake, presumably in a translation, but was not published in it.

From Project Gutenberg

I was at his office to-day, you see, to return him some keepsake of his that I found in an old curiosity shop.

From Project Gutenberg

Also, he took the ruby brooch for a friend—and as a sort of keepsake, you know.

From Project Gutenberg

With a Spartan-like resolve she at last put every letter and keepsake into the sacrificial flames.

From Project Gutenberg

But the keepsake, that had never left its seat for many a year, was too precious to him to be so discarded.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• memento
• relic
• souvenir
• trophy