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• monument
  monument

  noun

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

  noun

  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

American  

[mon-yuh-muhnt, mon-yuh-ment] / ˈmɒn jə mənt, ˈmɒn jəˌmɛnt /

noun

• monuments
  plural

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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Monument ² British  

/ ˈmɒnjʊmənt /

noun

1. 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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• monumentless
  adjective
• unmonumented
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• monuments
  plural

Etymology

Origin of monument

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

Explanation

A monument is a statue or other sculpture meant to honor a great person, like the Lincoln Monument or Washington Monument. You can find monuments in the downtown area of most cities. Many honor a specific person, while other are dedicated to soldiers who fought in a certain war, such as Vietnam or World War I. Cemeteries are also full of monuments, and monument can mean a type of burial vault. Whenever people create a monument, they're trying to make sure that a person or event is remembered.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

monument Monument monuments

The monument is a line of arches and pillars constructed to resemble the fortress gates of Negatapam - a town in India and the scene of fighting between British and French forces in the 1780s.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

If you’re going to film a literary monument, and a period piece to boot, you’re going to have to spend some money.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Ms. Margolles purchased a home in the middle of this and demolished it, here reconstructing the rubble into a rectangular minimalist monument that stretches across a large gallery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Now the arch, initially promoted as a monument commemorating America’s 250th anniversary, has undergone a similar transformation.

From Salon ● Sep. 20, 2026

The king's father looked around, aghast, but only the lifeless stone Bauxi, held down by the monument as if pinned by a needle, remained.

From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin

All, however, steered well clear of the federal Ethiopian soldiers on guard at the university and the Tigray Martyrs Memorial Monument, which commemorates the TPLF's 16 years of struggle against the Marxist-Leninist Derg government.

From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026

Curbed dealmaking prompts more junior partners to quit larger firms and set up their own shops, according to Monument Group executives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

When a bat tested positive for rabies in Jewel Cave National Monument in South Dakota on July 29, officials released a statement about two weeks later.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026

Harper-Nunes, of Monument Road, was charged on Friday.

From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026

We sit at the base of the George Washington Monument, squeezing close for shade, our legs stretched out before us in the long afternoon shadow.

From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson

Juxtaposing Jim Crow-era Confederate monuments and recent art, “Monuments” challenges white supremacy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026

This includes exquisitely decorated tombs that offer a unique glimpse into the daily lives, funerary beliefs, artistry and monuments of Egypt’s ordinary people and officials over many centuries.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 10, 2026

"Equality between women and men will never stop at the foot of our historical monuments, nor anywhere in this city. It must be applied everywhere, for everyone."

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

"Unfortunately, the process of rewriting history is much bigger, much deeper. It's also the destruction of monuments," said Zhemkova.

From Barron's ● Sep. 4, 2026

Each is remembered with monuments, memorials, and cities named in his honor.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

Related Words

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