Souvenir

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˌsuː.vəˈnɪə/

Definitions

1. A physical object preserved to trigger reflections on a certain occasion, individual, or locale
2. An item kept as a reminder of a specific location, event, or experience
3. A memento retained to recall a particular trip, occasion, or person

Etymology: The French "souvenir" is an ordinary word meaning "memory," built from the verb "se souvenir," to remember, and it reaches back to Latin "subvenire," to come to mind. English borrowed it without adapting its spelling or pronunciation, so the word still sounds French in its final syllables, and it came into use as a plain term for something that brings a past moment back to you. The sense of a bought or picked-up object carried home from a trip is a later narrowing. The word kept its memory meaning in French, while English speakers gradually attached it to the tokens people collected while travelling. "Memento," a Latin word for "remember," serves a similar purpose and is a close relative in meaning, though it did not take the same route into English.

Synonyms: keepsake, memento, token