keepsake

Etymology

It is formed from English keep + sake¹,^[2][3][4][5] on the model of namesake, and Etymonline calls it an unusual formation.^[3][2][6] Literally it is an object kept for the sake of the giver.^[3][5] The verb goes back to Old English cepan (“to seize, hold”),^[3] and the noun to sacu (“a cause at law, dispute, guilt”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Something kept or given to be kept in remembrance of the giver: 1790, in F. Burney's diary,^[2] with the same date in Etymonline and Merriam-Webster.^[3][6] The Random House text dates it 1780–90.^[7]

Semantic evolution

In the 1830s the word was used in the titles of popular holiday gift books with fine engravings and, as Etymonline puts it, mediocre poetry.^[3] The OED and the Shorter Oxford record it as the name of these literary annuals of verse, prose and illustrations, common in the early 19th century.^[2][4] From the books came an attributive use, recorded from 1839 in Thackeray, for the vapid prettiness of the faces they pictured and for their feeble literary style.^[2][3][4] Merriam-Webster also has a gift book made for a particular group or occasion, as a specimen of fine printing.^[6]

Timeline

• 1790 – a thing kept in remembrance of the giver.^[2][3][6]
• 1830s – in the titles of holiday gift books.^[3]
• 1839 – attributive, having the insipid prettiness or style of such books.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. Something kept or given to be kept as a memento of a person or an occasion; a souvenir: She saved the ticket stub as a keepsake of the concert.^[8][6][2]
2. (historical) A literary annual or gift book of verse, prose and illustrations, of a type common in the early 19th century.^[2][4][6]
3. A gift book made for a particular group or occasion as a specimen of fine printing.^[6]

Adjective

1. Being or resembling a keepsake, or (archaic) having the vapid prettiness or mannered style of the old annuals.^[4][2]

Related words

• keep
• sake
• namesake

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins