memorabilia
memorabilia — noun
1. Items that people acquire and value because those objects relate to a celebrity,
Items that people acquire and value because those objects relate to a celebrity, a major past event, or a favourite pastime like a sport or a film series.
Rin covered her bedroom wall with Beatles memorabilia, including old concert posters and signed albums.
collocation: music memorabilia / sports memorabilia / film memorabilia
The museum displays Apollo mission memorabilia, such as flight suits and moon maps.
collocation: memorabilia from [historical event]
Fans waited in line for hours to buy World Cup memorabilia at the stadium shop.
At auction, vintage film memorabilia included a Marilyn Monroe dress worth millions.
Liam found a box of old baseball memorabilia in his grandfather's attic.
- collectibles
more commercial in feel; often refers to items bought and sold as investments
- collectables
same as collectibles, with a less commercial connotation
- keepsakes
personal rather than historical; things kept for private emotional reasons
文法句型
memorabilia + plural verb
a piece / an item of memorabilia
用法筆記
Always treated as a plural noun: 'These memorabilia are valuable.' To refer to a single object, use 'a piece of memorabilia' or 'an item of memorabilia.' The rare singular form 'memorabilium' is almost never used in modern English.
常見錯誤
2. Physical objects connected to significant achievements, historical events, or no
Physical objects connected to significant achievements, historical events, or notable experiences that people preserve as important records of the past.
The championship trophy became the team's most treasured piece of memorabilia from that season.
count structure: piece of memorabilia
The city archive preserves memorabilia from the founding years, including old maps and handwritten letters.
collocation: memorabilia from [a period]
His Nobel Prize medal became a piece of family memorabilia passed down through three generations.
The retiring mayor donated four decades' worth of campaign memorabilia to the historical society.
Photographs from the polar expedition survive as memorabilia of a historic journey.
- remembrances
more personal and emotional; less historical in tone
- records
focuses on the documentary aspect rather than the physical object
文法句型
memorabilia of [event]
memorabilia from [era]
用法筆記
This sense overlaps with sense 1 but focuses on events and achievements rather than commercial collectibles. Commonly appears in formal or historical writing rather than everyday conversation. Distinguish from sense 1 (COLLECTED OBJECTS), which refers to mass-produced or commercially traded items tied to celebrities or pop culture.
常見錯誤
3. Objects tied to a particular hobby, profession, or area of interest that people
Objects tied to a particular hobby, profession, or area of interest that people keep because they find them meaningful — even when the objects have little or no financial value.
Adina's collection of theatre memorabilia included playbills and costume sketches from Broadway shows.
collocation: theatre memorabilia / military memorabilia / railway memorabilia
The veteran's trunk was full of military memorabilia — uniforms, medals, and faded group photographs.
Cole keeps railway memorabilia in a box — tickets from old train journeys.
Book lovers often collect literary memorabilia — first editions and signed copies from favourite authors.
The aviation museum displays flight memorabilia from the 1950s, including pilot goggles and in-flight menus.
文法句型
[field/interest] + memorabilia
memorabilia of [a subject]
用法筆記
The field or interest is typically specified before the word ('theatre memorabilia,' 'railway memorabilia'). Unlike sense 1 (COLLECTED OBJECTS), the items are not necessarily famous or commercially traded — their value is personal and tied to the collector's own passion. Unlike sense 2 (NOTEWORTHY EVENTS), the focus is on a category of interest rather than a single remarkable event.