memorabilia
Americanplural noun
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memorabile
singular
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mementos; souvenirs.
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matters or events worthy to be remembered; points worthy of note.
plural noun
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memorable events or things
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objects connected with famous people or events
Etymology
Origin of memorabilia
1800–10; noun use of Latin memorābilia things to be remembered, neuter plural of memorābilis memorable
Explanation
The noun memorabilia describes items that remind you of a certain event or time period. Parents who save every drawing and report card their children bring home are collecting memorabilia for the future. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt? That t-shirt is memorabilia. Memorabilia refers to anything that commemorates an event. It shows you were there — you have the t-shirt to prove it. But t-shirts didn't even exist in 1806, the year memorabilia was coined from the Latin word memorare, meaning "to bring to mind." You save memorabilia to help you remember, or jog your memory.
Vocabulary lists containing memorabilia
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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.
See Examples For:
That jersey sold for $24.12 million in 2024 at Heritage Auctions, setting a world record for the most expensive piece of sports memorabilia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
New York's subway is known for being dirty, noisy and sometimes flooded, but that doesn't stop people from flocking to grab a seat, sign or other memorabilia at a unique annual auction.
From Barron's ● Oct. 11, 2026
Among the things destroyed were wedding memorabilia, electronics, clothes and the everyday belongings that had made the house a home.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
In the 1940s, for example, he sets out to collect scrap iron for the war effort and ends up absconding with a private collection of military memorabilia.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
One day, after I finished my shift, a deputy superintendent gave me permission to look through two manila folders in which he kept a lot of old newspaper clippings and prison memorabilia.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
But if he has them not, I shall only exclaim a phrase out of Terence's "Andria": "Hoccine credibile est aut memorabile Tanta vecordia innata cuiquam ut siet, Ut malis gaudeant?"
From Secret Diplomatic History of The Eighteenth Century by Karl Marx
Beyond this, on the left, the base of the famous statue of Domitian has been discovered as described by Statius: "Ipse loci custos, cujus sacrata vorago, Famosusque lacus nomen memorabile servat."
From Walks in Rome by Augustus J. C. Hare
And therefore among all modest and honest persons it is thought a shame to offer violence or iniurie to a woman: in which respect Virgil saith, Nullum memorabile nomen fœminea in pœna est.
From Discovery of Witches The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster by Thomas Potts
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
