monument

noun

mon·​u·​ment ˈmän-yə-mənt 

1

obsolete : a burial vault : sepulchre

2

: a written legal document or record : treatise

3

a(1)

: a lasting evidence, reminder, or example of someone or something notable or great

(2)

: a distinguished person

b

: a memorial stone or a building erected in remembrance of a person or event

4

archaic : an identifying mark : evidence

also : portent, sign

5

obsolete : a carved statue : effigy

6

: a boundary or position marker (such as a stone)

7

: national monument

8

: a written tribute

Synonyms

• gravestone
• headstone
• stone
• tombstone

Examples of monument in a Sentence

They have erected a monument in his honor.

the Quakers disapproved of monuments, regarding them as idolatrous, so thousands of Nantucketers spend their eternal rest in complete anonymity

Recent Examples on the Web

President Trump’s 2026 budget proposal recommends cutting more than $1.2 billion from the NPS, which manages 433 areas including national parks, monuments, battlefields, military parks, comprising 85 million acres of federal land in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and US territories. —Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, Forbes.com, 8 May 2025

Jiggly Caliente and Sam Nordquist are among this year’s all-trans class of inductees to the National LGBTQ+ Wall of Honor, a monument inside New York City’s Stonewall Inn. —James Factora, Them., 7 May 2025

The new Trump budget proposal would reduce money for the nation's national parks, monuments, historic sites, seashores and trails by nearly 25%. —Taylor Wilson, USA Today, 5 May 2025

The idea is for both the opera and monument to pay homage to the species that have gone extinct. —Keridwen Cornelius, New York Times, 3 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin monumentum, literally, memorial, from monēre to remind — more at mind

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing monument

• national monument

Kids Definition

monument

noun

mon·​u·​ment ˈmän-yə-mənt 

1

: something that serves as a memorial

especially : a building, pillar, stone, or statue honoring a person or event

2

: a work, saying, or deed that lasts or that is worth preserving

the book is a monument of scholarship

3

: a boundary marker (as a stone)

4

: a place of historic interest or natural beauty set aside and maintained by the government as public property