monument

[ noun mon-yuh-muhnt; verb mon-yuh-ment ]
See synonyms for: monumentmonumentedmonumentingmonuments on Thesaurus.com

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.

  1. any enduring evidence or notable example of something: a monument to human ingenuity.

  2. an exemplar, model, or personification of some abstract quality, especially when considered to be beyond question: a monument of middle-class respectability.

  3. an area or a site of interest to the public for its historical significance, great natural beauty, etc., preserved and maintained by a government.

  4. a written tribute to a person, especially a posthumous one.

  5. Surveying. an object, as a stone shaft, set in the ground to mark the boundaries of real estate or to mark a survey station.

  6. a person considered as a heroic figure or of heroic proportions: He became a monument in his lifetime.

    • Obsolete. a tomb; sepulcher.

    • 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.

Origin of monument

1
1250–1300; Middle English <Latin monumentum, equivalent to mon- (stem of monēre to remind, warn) + -u- (variant of -i--i- before labials) + -mentum-ment

Other words from monument

  • mon·u·ment·less, adjective
  • un·mon·u·ment·ed, adjective

Words Nearby monument

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use monument in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for monument (1 of 2)

monument

/ (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

  1. a tomb or tombstone

  2. a literary or artistic work regarded as commemorative of its creator or a particular period

  3. US a boundary marker

  4. an exceptional example: his lecture was a monument of tedium

  5. an obsolete word for statue

Origin of monument

1
C13: from Latin monumentum, from monēre to remind, advise

British Dictionary definitions for Monument (2 of 2)

Monument

/ (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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012