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

The hilltop monument wasn’t anywhere near the destructive blazes that night — the fires were too busy destroying residential communities then — but the thought pulled focus from real relief efforts. —Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 17 Jan. 2025

Additional locations include the Chapel of the Sorbonne in Paris, which is just 700 meters from the famed Panthéon monument, as well as the Ruins of Old Belchite, a ghost town west of Barcelona. —Michael Cappetta, Travel + Leisure, 16 Jan. 2025

The monuments were created over the objections of state officials. —Matthew Brown, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2025

Essential Reads How policy will affect the energy and environment sectors now and in the future: Biden officially designates 2 new monuments in California President Biden has officially designated two new national monuments in California. —Rachel Frazin, The Hill, 14 Jan. 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