noun
verb
Etymology
Origin of souvenir
1765–75; < French, noun use of ( se ) souvenir to remember < Latin subvenīre to come to mind, equivalent to sub- sub- + venīre to come
Explanation
A souvenir is a keepsake or a remembrance. A telltale sign that someone has visited Paris is the tiny, metal Eiffel Tower hanging from her keychain as a souvenir. First recorded in 1775 as meaning “a remembrance or memory,” the noun souvenir stems from the French souvenir “to remember, come to mind.” A few years later, it took on the sense of “a token” of an event or experience. A song by Tears for Fears goes, “Love is a promise, love is a souvenir, once given never forgotten, never let it disappear.” Here, souvenir refers to a feeling, but more often it refers to something tangible, like a memento, gift, or trophy.
Vocabulary lists containing souvenir
Inside Out & Back Again
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Bronx Masquerade
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Mardi Gras: Fun
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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.
Share your souvenir guilty pleasure with me at [email protected] and we’ll publish some in a future newsletter.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 22, 2026
There are no luxury shops onboard, just basic souvenir shops selling shirts, postcards and other commemorative items.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 17, 2026
Just then, on Facebook Marketplace, she saw that “this little gas station was for rent. And I said, ‘Oh, my God, a souvenir shop in a historic gas station on historic Route 66!’
From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026
Hutt became a keen royalist at the age of four, when the King and Queen visited his parents after the Blitz in London and gave him a souvenir mug.
From BBC • May 10, 2026
“I’m calling Sheriff Ocasek. When word of this gets out, we’ll need security to protect our dig from souvenir hunters. This is going to be big news!”
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
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.
