monument

[ noun mon-yuh-muhnt; verb mon-yuh-ment ]

noun

1. something erected in memory of a person, event, etc., as a building, pillar, or statue:

   the Washington Monument.

2. any building, megalith, etc., surviving from a past age, and regarded as of historical or archaeological importance.
3. any enduring evidence or notable example of something:

   a monument to human ingenuity.

4. an exemplar, model, or personification of some abstract quality, especially when considered to be beyond question:

   a monument of middle-class respectability.

5. an area or a site of interest to the public for its historical significance, great natural beauty, etc., preserved and maintained by a government.
6. a written tribute to a person, especially a posthumous one.
7. Surveying. an object, as a stone shaft, set in the ground to mark the boundaries of real estate or to mark a survey station.
8. a person considered as a heroic figure or of heroic proportions:

   He became a monument in his lifetime.

9. 1. Obsolete. a tomb; sepulcher.
   2. a statue.

verb (used with object)

1. to build a monument or monuments to; commemorate:

   to monument the nation's war dead.

2. to build a monument on:

   to monument a famous site.

Monument

¹

/ ˈmɒnjʊmənt /

noun

1. the Monument
   a tall columnar building designed (1671) by Sir Christopher Wren to commemorate the Fire of London (1666), which destroyed a large part of the medieval city

monument

²

/ ˈmɒnjʊmənt /

noun

1. an obelisk, statue, building, etc, erected in commemoration of a person or event or in celebration of something
2. a notable building or site, esp one preserved as public property
3. a tomb or tombstone
4. a literary or artistic work regarded as commemorative of its creator or a particular period
5. a boundary marker
6. an exceptional example

   his lecture was a monument of tedium

7. an obsolete word for statue

Other Words From

• monu·ment·less adjective
• un·monu·mented adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of monument¹

1250–1300; Middle English < Latin monumentum, equivalent to mon- (stem of monēre to remind, warn) + -u- (variant of -i- -i- before labials) + -mentum -ment

Word History and Origins

Origin of monument¹

C13: from Latin monumentum, from monēre to remind, advise

Example Sentences

The state Senate and Assembly passed resolutions urging Biden to act on the three new monuments.

From Los Angeles Times

He called global warming a hoax, pulled out of the Paris climate agreement, shrank national monuments and appointed Environmental Protection Agency administrators who helped polluters at the expense of public health.

From Los Angeles Times

Naidu and Lynch are accused of spraying orange powder paint on the iconic monuments on June 19th.

From Salon

It becomes a kind of altar as well as a monument, as Whitehall temporarily becomes a mixture of a church, military parade ground and national shrine.

From BBC

Trump downsized monuments in the West during his first term, and some want him to go further in his second — by abolishing the Antiquities Act altogether.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• gravestone
• headstone
• marker
• masterpiece
• mausoleum
• pillar
• shrine
• slab
• statue
• stele
• stone
• tablet
• testament
• tomb
• tombstone
• tribute