memento
[muh-men-toh]
- 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) Roman Catholic Church. either of two prayers in the canon of the Mass, one for persons living and the other for persons dead.
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Origin of memento
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin mementō, imperative of meminisse to remember
Usage note
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.
memento mori
[muh-men-toh mawr-ahy, mohr-ahy, mawr-ee, mohr-ee; for 1 also Latin me-men-toh moh-ree]
- (italics) Latin. remember that you must die.
- an object, as a skull, serving as a reminder of death or mortality.
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Origin of memento mori
First recorded in 1585–95, memento mori is from the Latin word mementō morī
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for memento
Contemporary Examples
He looks a bit like B̶r̶a̶d̶ ̶P̶i̶t̶t̶ Guy Pearce in Memento at this stage.
I watched as each reached up to the press box, memento in hand.
Figure Skater Michelle Kwan Chases Gold in Rhode Island’s Gubernatorial RaceNicholas McCarvel
April 17, 2014
Sandra McElwaine previews the loot, from a Cuban Missile Crisis memento to notes from the first lady.
They offered tea, a smoke, and an Egyptian flag as a memento.
Historical Examples
On the face of a rich man's heir is written the rich man's memento mori!
Night and Morning, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
His memento mori was in his bed-chamber, and sat by him at his frugal meal.
The Works of Whittier, Volume VI (of VII)John Greenleaf Whittier
She had been his wife's friend and, as such, he had given her that silver vinaigrette as a memento.
Howards EndE. M. Forster
"I want this stick as a memento of him," answered the gentleman, sweetly.
Australia RevengedBoomerang
"Then it is only a memento," I stammered, with very evident feeling.
The Bronze HandAnna Katharine Green (Mrs. Charles Rohlfs)
memento
- something that reminds one of past events; souvenir
- RC Church either of two prayers occurring during the Mass
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Word Origin
C15: from Latin, imperative of meminisse to remember
memento mori
- an object, such as a skull, intended to remind people of the inevitability of death
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Word Origin
C16: Latin: remember you must die
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for memento
n.
c.1400, "Psalm cxxxi in the Canon of the Mass" (which begins with the Latin word Memento and in which the dead are commemorated), from Latin memento "remember," imperative of meminisse "to remember, recollect, think of, bear in mind," a reduplicated form, related to mens "mind" (see mind (n.)). Meaning "reminder, object serving as a warning" is from 1580s; sense of "keepsake" is first recorded 1768.
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memento mori
n.
"reminder of death," 1590s, Latin, literally "remember that you must die."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper