memorial

[muh-mawr-ee-uhl, -mohr-]

noun

1. something designed to preserve the memory of a person, event, etc., as a monument or a holiday.

2. a written statement of facts presented to a sovereign, a legislative body, etc., as the ground of, or expressed in the form of, a petition or remonstrance.

adjective

1. preserving the memory of a person or thing; commemorative.

   memorial services.

2. of or relating to the memory.

memorial

/ mɪˈmɔːrɪəl /

adjective

1. serving to preserve the memory of the dead or a past event

2. of or involving memory

noun

1. something serving as a remembrance

2. a written statement of facts submitted to a government, authority, etc, in conjunction with a petition

3. an informal diplomatic paper

Other Word Forms

• memorially adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of memorial¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin memoriāle, noun use of neuter of Latin memoriālis for or containing memoranda. See memory, -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of memorial¹

C14: from Late Latin memoriāle a reminder, neuter of memoriālis belonging to remembrance

Example Sentences

They held a short silence at the Bloody Sunday memorial, near the spot where many of the victims were killed more than half a century ago.

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A memorial service was held for him in Glasgow's Kinning Park Parish Church, with his body flown to Ethiopia for a full funeral.

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The latest was in January when a group of local university students organised a memorial event for Palestinian students in front of a building said to house a research centre operated by an Israeli university.

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The decision to bring decommissioned Confederate memorial sculptures inside the museum for sober analysis at first raised eyebrows, as much in excitement as in surprise.

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For the past decade, Confederate memorials have been a flashpoint in America’s heated culture wars.

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Related Words

• ceremony 
• headstone 
• mausoleum 
• plaque 
• remembrance 
• statue 
• tombstone