Souvenir
/ˌsuː.vəˈnɪər/noun
An object kept as a reminder of a person, place, or experience.
Did you know?French souvenir means “to remember,” descending from Latin subvenire, whose original sense was “to come to someone’s aid”—as if memory returns to rescue the past.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*gʷem-
“to come or go”
Classical Latin
Latin
venīre
“to come”
Classical Latin
Latin
subvenīre
“to come up or come to someone’s aid”
Old French
Old French
sovenir
“to remember; to call to mind”
Middle French
French
souvenir
“remembrance or memory”
18th Century
English
souvenir
“a memento or keepsake brought back as a reminder”
Modern English
English
souvenir
“an object preserved as a reminder of a place or experience”