memento
Americannoun
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an object or item that serves to remind one of a person, past event, etc.; keepsake; souvenir.
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anything serving as a reminder or warning.
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(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
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something that reminds one of past events; souvenir
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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.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of memento
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin mementō, imperative of meminisse to remember
Explanation
A memento is a keepsake of something you want to remember. You may keep photographs as a memento of a great family reunion — except for that one photo where Aunt Bonnie is wearing the lampshade and singing "Respect." No one wants to remember that! Memento is a Latin imperative that ordered people to "Remember!" People love to keep mementos from all sorts of things, including weddings, births, concerts, trips, holidays, and even school. You should be careful not to bore people with your mementos, however. Not everyone wants to see the ribbon you wore in your hair at the homecoming game, and your 8,000 pictures of your trip to Paris (Illinois, not the one in France) might be a bit over the top.
Vocabulary lists containing memento
The Westing Game
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myPerspectives 9.1
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Musty Dusty Words for National Old Stuff Day
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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.
The message is consistent and irrefutable: Memento mori.
From New York Times • Apr. 27, 2024
One particular role proved key to his career - with Murphy's appearance in 2005's Batman Begins marking his first collaboration with Memento, Interstellar and Tenet director Christopher Nolan.
From BBC • Feb. 6, 2024
The recording sessions for "Memento Mori," which, in translation, connotes death's inevitability, had commenced back in late 2019, well before Fletch's death.
From Salon • Mar. 25, 2023
As a conceptual painter interested in the Vanitas and Memento Mori styles of painting, he was drawn to the subject’s aesthetic simplicity and the complicated, fraught history.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2023
The intervening spaces were taken up with little jars and cups and saucers—gold inside, with a view of a town outside, and surrounding them, 'A Present from Clacton-on-Sea,' or, alliteratively, 'A Memento of Margate.'
From Liza of Lambeth by Maugham, W. Somerset (William Somerset)
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.
