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

Related Words

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