monogram
Americannoun
-
a design consisting of two or more alphabetic letters combined or interlaced, commonly one's initials, often printed on stationery, embroidered on clothing, etc.
-
a single emblematic or decorative letter; applied initial.
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of monogram
1600–10; < Late Latin monogramma, irregular < Late Greek monógrammon. See mono-, -gram 1
Explanation
If you've ever had a set of stationery with your initials printed on it, you know what a monogram is — it's those three letters at the top. When you buy a towel, a blanket, or a sweater you can often pay a little extra for a monogram, to get the initials of your first, middle, and last names embroidered on them. Writing paper, wedding invitations, envelopes, and other paper goods are commonly printed with a monogram — or monogrammed. Fancy silverware can also be imprinted with a monogram, as can gold and silver jewelry. The root is Greek, monogrammon, which means "intertwined letters."
Vocabulary lists containing monogram
Write On!: Graph and Gram
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The Last Olympian
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The Great Gilly Hopkins
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The more intricate “LV” monogram pattern, with quatrefoil and flowers, appeared in 1896 as Georges’s tribute to his late father.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026
"And I lived that as an early teen. I was desperate for the monogram Gucci washbag."
From BBC • Apr. 29, 2026
The monogram is not something that instantly screams “Los Angeles,” though the iconic Dodgers logo — interlocking white letters on a blue hat — is one of the most memorable monograms in the world.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
It’s even harder to snag a table at the cafe upstairs run by a Michelin-star chef, which serves lattes with LV monogram foam art.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 20, 2025
It was named Pluto at least partly because the first two letters made a monogram from Lowell’s initials.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
