keepsake

English

WOTD – 4 July 2007

Etymology

From keep +‎ sake.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkiːp.seɪk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

keepsake (plural keepsakes)

1. An object given by a person and retained in memory of something or someone; something kept for sentimental or nostalgic reasons.

   Coordinate terms: memento, memorabilia, souvenir

   • 1905, Samuel Rutherford Crockett, The Cherry Ribband: A Novel, page 8:

     He walked on hastily, and as he went he hid Jezebel's keepsake first under his cloak, and then deeper, under the sober grey justicor, or waistcoat, near the place where his Presbyterian heart was beating all too unsoberly.

2. (historical) Specifically, a type of literary album popular in the nineteenth-century, containing scraps of poetry and prose, and engravings.

Derived terms

• keepsaky

Translations

object retained in memory of something or someone

• Bashkir: иҫтәлек (iśtəlek)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 紀念品 / 纪念品 (zh) (jìniànpǐn)

• Danish: minde n
• Dutch: herinnering (nl), aandenken (nl)
• Finnish: muisto (fi), muistoesine (fi)
• French: souvenir (fr) m
• Georgian: სამახსოვრო საჩუქარი (samaxsovro sačukari), სუვენირი (suveniri)
• German: Andenken (de) n, Erinnerung (de) f, Liebgewonnenes n, Erinnerungsstück (de) n
• Greek: ενθύμιο (el) n (enthýmio), αναμνηστικό (el) n (anamnistikó)
• Hebrew: מזכרת (he) f (mazkeret)
• Italian: ricordo (it) m, memoria (it) f, memento m
• Kyrgyz: белек (ky) (belek)
• Macedonian: спомен m (spomen)
• Maori: whakaturi
• Plautdietsch: Aunjedenkj n
• Polish: pamiątka (pl) f
• Portuguese: recordação (pt) f
• Romanian: suvenir (ro) n
• Russian: сувени́р (ru) m (suvenír)
• Scottish Gaelic: cuimhneachan m
• Serbo-Croatian: ȕspomena (sh) f
• Spanish: recuerdo (es) m

French

Etymology

From English keepsake.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kip.sɛk/, /kip.sɛjk/

Noun

keepsake m (plural keepsakes)

1. (historical) keepsake, literary album

Further reading

• “keepsake”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.