souvenir

noun

sou·​ve·​nir ˈsü-və-ˌnir 

ˌsü-və-ˈnir

: something kept as a reminder (as of a place one has visited)

a souvenir of her travels

a souvenir shop

Synonyms

• commemorative
• keepsake
• memento
• memorial
• monument
• remembrance
• reminder
• token

Examples of souvenir in a Sentence

When I went to the Super Bowl, I kept my ticket stub as a souvenir.

kept their love letters as souvenirs of their courtship

Recent Examples on the Web

Universal’s new park has the rare opportunity to model that future — building an experience where every corner, every bite, and every souvenir carries the wonder and storytelling power that defines truly great leisure destinations. —Kate Hardcastle, Forbes.com, 27 Apr. 2025

Make your own perfume For a truly authentic Bermudian souvenir, stop by the Lili Bermuda Perfumery to create a custom scent or shop their line of handcrafted fragrances inspired by island botanicals. —Skye Sherman, Travel + Leisure, 27 Apr. 2025

Brooke Shields took a sizable souvenir from the Suddenly Susan set. —Brendan Le, People.com, 25 Apr. 2025

The crowd takes selfies with their souvenir monsters, and the cheer when the TV show’s moody title sequence fills up one of the set’s enormous screens and scrims as the story kicks off is — like much of the following almost three hours — deafening. —Sara Holdren, Vulture, 23 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French, literally, act of remembering, from Middle French, from (se) souvenir to remember, from Latin subvenire to come up, come to mind — more at subvention

First Known Use

1782, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing souvenir

• souvenir sheet
• souvenir shop

Rhymes for souvenir

• auctioneer
• bandelier
• belvedere
• bombardier
• brigadier
• buccaneer
• cavalier
• chandelier
• chanticleer
• chevalier
• commandeer
• disappear

Kids Definition

souvenir

noun

sou·​ve·​nir ˈsü-və-ˌni(ə)r 

ˌsü-və-ˈni(ə)r

: something that serves as a reminder : memento