monument

American  

[mon-yuh-muhnt, mon-yuh-ment] / ˈmɒn yə mənt, ˈmɒn yəˌmɛnt /

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.

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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

• monumentless adjective
• unmonumented adjective

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

Example Sentences

Lion and dragon dancers perform on the Great Wall of China, in Badaling, to entertain visitors who have come to enjoy the illuminated monument during the Year of the Horse celebrations.

From Barron's

In 1913, on the advice of a British Museum curator, Routledge sailed to Easter Island, where she would carry out the first scholarly study of the island’s monuments and traditions.

From The Wall Street Journal

The tower milestone comes more than 140 years after famed Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi designed the monument that has become a symbol of Spain's second city and a globally renowned tourist attraction.

From Barron's

The strikes are hitting port infrastructure, cargo ships and have damaged historic monuments in the UNESCO-listed city.

From Barron's

As organizers work to finalize the location for the cultural district’s monument by this summer, we’ve broken down the potential sites and have highlighted their historical relevance.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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