keepsake

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈkipseɪk/ UK /ˈkiːpseɪk/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a small item kept in memory of the person who gave or owned it

She wore her grandmother's ring as a treasured keepsake.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a small item kept in memory... memento souvenir token remembrance relic trophy

Word family

Related forms keep sake

Simplified etymology

Keepsake arose in the late 18th century for something kept for the sake of its giver. Its second element is sake, a word of Germanic origin whose older meanings concerned an affair, legal action, or thing.

Etymology

A compound coined in the 18th century from keep + sake (as in 'for the sake of keeping'), modeled on namesake.

cēpan Old English sacu Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# keepsake

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈkipseɪk/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkiːpseɪk/

## Meanings
1. a small item kept in memory of the person who gave or owned it

## Examples
- She wore her grandmother's ring as a treasured keepsake.

## Synonyms
- memento
- souvenir
- token
- remembrance
- relic
- trophy

## Related Forms
- keep
- sake

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: cēpan
- Root: sacu

## Etymology
A compound coined in the 18th century from keep + sake (as in 'for the sake of keeping'), modeled on namesake.

## AI Etymology
Keepsake is a compound coined in the 18th century from keep + sake (as in 'for the sake of keeping'), modeled on namesake. The compound structure is semantically important: one element narrows the setting, direction, or quality, and the other supplies the object, action, or base idea. As a noun, it denotes "a small item kept in memory of the person who gave or owned it", keeping the historical idea close to its dictionary sense. Relevant historical forms include Old English cēpan and Old English sacu. Related words include keep, sake.

## Topics
- People & Society

markdown