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

In the House, Speedy has carried bills to establish a monument for first responders, to pay disabled firefighters and police officers who were injured on the job and to implement stricter punishments for people who distribute revenge pornography. —Brittany Carloni, The Indianapolis Star, 17 Apr. 2024

Instead, the Times article focused on the administration’s efforts for a monument over 400 miles to the south — an area most East Bay residents will never visit. —Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 15 Apr. 2024

But the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, whatever its authenticity, has ever since stood as a monument to hard-drinking existentialists, including, presumably, Post Malone. —Tom Zoellner, SPIN, 9 Apr. 2024

Driving in from the entrance of the monument, take a right to head down Cabrillo Road, a scenic route that heads south toward the trailheads. —Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Apr. 2024

The bowl’s hemisphere can summon to mind the 18th-century French architect Étienne-Louis Boullée’s famous unbuilt monument to Newton, a textbook example of Enlightenment idealism. —Michael Kimmelman Clement Pascal, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2024

The tribes have also called for co-management of any such monuments. —The Arizona Republic, 30 Mar. 2024

All the Smithsonian museums and the National Zoo, as well as the monuments and memorials along the National Mall are free to enter, as are several outdoorsy spots like Rock Creek Park and the U.S. National Arboretum. —Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 7 Apr. 2024

Have taxpayers grown reluctant to finance these monuments to the vanity of billionaire owners? —Andrew Van Dam, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024

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