noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
Iran’s influence is visible in a souvenir stall in Baghdad’s old city.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
In 1764, an English sailor named Samuel Bowen arrived in Savannah, Georgia, with a handful of soybeans, a souvenir from several years spent in China.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2026
Not far from the cafe where Osborn met with voters, Calvin Pemberton owns a Trump souvenir shop next to his car detailing business, where he sells flags, t-shirts and hats with the Republican president's likeness.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
I ended up leaving with the Hotel Mar-a-Lago shirt, which Bill insisted I take as a souvenir of my visit, refusing my money when I pulled out my wallet.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
We walked in through the office, hustled through the library, paused briefly to examine the holes in the bedroom wall, and entered the souvenir shop.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
T-shirts and souvenirs bearing his features are on sale in a nearby shop, and several businesses have erected large banners to welcome him to Chiclayo.
From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026
Not only are the travel costs low, we have no space for souvenirs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
“But fans still want that, so they would send me a list of the shows they had gone to, and they wanted souvenirs for all of them.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
In South Korea, investigators say some people brought the seasoning back home as souvenirs from their overseas trips before listing it for resale.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
I recognized him as Connor, the boy who sold hummingbear souvenirs to the tourists each autumn.
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
