memento
Americannoun
plural
mementos, mementoes-
an object or item that serves to remind one of a person, past event, etc.; keepsake; souvenir.
-
anything serving as a reminder or warning.
-
(initial capital letter, italics) either of two prayers in the canon of the Mass, one for persons living and the other for persons dead.
noun
-
something that reminds one of past events; souvenir
-
RC Church either of two prayers occurring during the Mass
Spelling
Memento is sometimes spelled momento, perhaps by association with moment. The word is actually related to remember. One of its earliest meanings was “something that serves to warn.” The meaning “souvenir” is a recent development: The stone animal carvings are mementos of our trip to Victoria. Momento is considered by many to be a misspelling, but it occurs so frequently in edited writing that some regard it as a variant spelling rather than an error.
Etymology
Origin of memento
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin mementō, imperative of meminisse to remember
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
After dinner, I pass out little memento goodies such as honey, tea, candy or jams as party favors.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 4, 2025
The 26-year-old was a short-format star - the Olympic rings tattooed on the inside of his right bicep are a memento of a bronze-medal winning campaign in Tokyo.
From BBC • Nov. 21, 2025
It is a chronicle, an accounting, a memento mori.
From Salon • Nov. 11, 2025
I grabbed one as a memento of my time here and also as a reminder of what’s happening with Latinos right now.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 8, 2025
“If the disease has disappeared as it no doubt has,” wrote “Howard” in that day’s General Advertiser, “every memento of its existence should disappear with it, that the citizens may once more enjoy repose.”
From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
