memento mori

American  

[muh-men-toh mawr-ahy, mohr-ahy, mawr-ee, mohr-ee, me-men-toh moh-ree] / məˈmɛn toʊ ˈmɔr aɪ, ˈmoʊr aɪ, ˈmɔr i, ˈmoʊr i, mɛˈmɛn toʊ ˈmoʊ ri /

noun

plural

memento mori

1. (italics) remember that you must die.

2. an object, as a skull, serving as a reminder of death or mortality.

---

memento mori British  

/ ˈmɔːriː /

noun

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

---

Usage

What does memento mori mean? Memento mori is a Latin phrase that translates to "remember you must die."A memento mori is something, historically a skull, that serves as a reminder of death and mortality.

Etymology

Origin of memento mori

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

Example Sentences

His so-called “bone temple” is an actualization of his life philosophy, memento mori, which translates from Latin as “Remember you must die.”

From Salon

It is a chronicle, an accounting, a memento mori.

From Salon

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

Related Words

• warning