Definition of MEMENTO

Did You Know?

Memento comes from the imperative form of "meminisse," a Latin verb that literally means "to remember." (The term memento mori, meaning "a reminder of mortality," translates as "remember that you must die.") The history of "memento" makes it clear where its spelling came from, but because a memento often helps one remember a particular moment, people occasionally spell the term "momento." That second version is usually considered a misspelling, but it appears often enough in edited prose to have been considered acceptable for entry in Webster's Third New International Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary.

Examples of memento in a Sentence

a collection of photographs and mementos It was a memento of our trip.

Recent Examples on the Web

There are a lot of mementos from the '14 and '15 World Series and the minor leagues. — Pete Grathoff, kansascity, "Royals' Danny Duffy has maybe the coolest man cave in the world," 12 June 2018 No, Josh’s 14-year-old brother Jacob stepped out of a Batmobile to deliver his ashes and a few mementos to an niche, where his urn would be kept alongside his grandmother’s. — Benjy Egel, sacbee, "Heroic sendoff: Batmobile brings ashes of teen who died of cancer to cemetery | The Sacramento Bee," 5 Apr. 2018 For the uninitiated, the miniature versions of the antique mosaic craft of the Greeks and Roman became popular in the 18th and 19th centuries among pilgrims to the Eternal City who wanted a memento of their journey. — Parker Bowie Larson, ELLE Decor, "These Micromosaic Pendants and Tea Sets Are Incredible," 10 May 2019 Henríquez lives in a yellow two-story rented house here in the state of Sonsonate amid mementos of Cindy and Ximena. — Joshua Partlow, Washington Post, "The story behind the girl in the recording who begs for her aunt after being separated from her migrant mother," 21 June 2018 As a memento of the night, Pappion Artistry did a live painting for Brice. ******* To reach Sue Strachan, send an email to socialscene@nola.com or call 504.450.5904. — Sue Strachan, NOLA.com, "Brice Berger honored at party with Carnival flair," 5 Feb. 2018 Fill empty spaces with dry cleaner bags (and fill them later with mementos from your trip). — Nicole Saporita, Good Housekeeping, "14 Genius Packing Tips to Help You Travel Like a Pro," 9 Apr. 2019 But architect John Toya, who lives off Alamo Square, brought his personality and a sense of whimsy to his apartment, filling it with mementos from his travels and reclaimed industrial cast-offs. — Asad Syrkett, Curbed, "Year in Curbed: The best of House Calls," 26 Dec. 2018 A few weeks ago, the family of Neil Armstrong began selling hundreds of his mementos online through Heritage Auctions. — Robert Lee Hotz, WSJ, "Your Chance to Own a Piece of the Moon," 25 Nov. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'memento.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.