memento mori

[ muh-men-toh mawr-ahy, mohr-ahy, mawr-ee, mohr-ee; Latin me-men-toh moh-ree ]

noun

, plural memento mori

1. (italics) Latin. remember that you must die.
2. an object, as a skull, serving as a reminder of death or mortality.

memento mori

/ ˈmɔːriː /

noun

1. an object, such as a skull, intended to remind people of the inevitability of death

Word History and Origins

Origin of memento mori¹

First recorded in 1585–95, memento mori is from Latin mementō morī

Word History and Origins

Origin of memento mori¹

C16: Latin: remember you must die

Example Sentences

Not even “Orange Grove Estates” as a memento mori.

From Los Angeles Times

“All photographs are memento mori,” as Susan Sontag wrote in “On Photography.”

From Los Angeles Times

The intoning of memento mori seeds a joyful duty toward the pursuit of human longevity as an act of grateful humility before the wonder of life.

From Salon

The death trip is a memento mori, that old medieval art tradition, which reminds us that we all die.

From Salon

A dire bout with esophageal cancer, with its attendant brutal treatments and radical reprioritization of life, seemed to force memento mori and carpe diem into an urgent competition for dominance — and the latter clearly won.

From Washington Post

Related Words

• warning