memento mori

noun

me·​men·​to mo·​ri mə-ˈmen-tō-ˈmȯr-ē 

plural memento mori

: a reminder of mortality

especially : death's-head

Did you know?

Memento mori literally means "Remember you must die". The early Puritan settlers were particularly aware of death and fearful of what it might mean, so a Puritan tombstone will often display a memento mori intended for the living. These death's-heads or skulls may strike us as ghoulish, but they helped keep the living on the straight and narrow for fear of eternal punishment. In earlier centuries, an educated European might place an actual skull on his desk to keep the idea of death always present in his mind.

Examples of memento mori in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

An antique cuckoo clock on the mantel ticked off the seconds, a kind of mechanical memento mori. —Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 13 June 2025

The Stoics practiced memento mori—a daily reflection on death—not to dwell in gloom, but to sharpen focus on living wisely and fully. —Greg Orme, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025

Self-portrait is a frequent genre for Brainard, too, but his are of a particular kind, less memento mori and more playful remembrances—Polaroids for his friends to place in their wallets. —David S. Wallace, The New Yorker, 19 Mar. 2025

Relentless, hi-def gore is The Monkey’s greatest achievement, but all the blood-spatter in the world couldn’t redeem its clumsy plotting, frat-boy humor, and feigned memento mori. —Madison Bloom, Pitchfork, 7 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin, remember that you must die

First Known Use

1598, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for memento mori

• accusatory
• admonitory
• ambulatory
• amendatory
• celebratory
• circulatory
• combinatory
• commendatory
• compensatory
• condemnatory
• confirmatory
• confiscatory