monument

UK: /ˈmɒnjʊmənt/

US: /ˈmɑnjəmənt/

US: (n. mon′yə mənt; v. mon′yə ment′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

mon•u•ment /ˈmɑnyəmənt/   n. [countable]

1. something erected in memory of a person, event, etc., as a pillar or statue:
   The arch in St. Louis is a monument to the pioneers.
2. any building from a past age, thought of as having importance.
3. anything that has lasted a long time and is evidence of something noteworthy:
   The canal and hydroelectric plant remain a monument to human ingenuity.

See -mon-.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

mon•u•ment  (n. mon′yə mənt;v. mon′yə ment′), n. 

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, esp. when considered to be beyond question:
   a monument of middle-class respectability.
5. Government 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, esp. 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. • [Obs.] a tomb;
     sepulcher.
   • a statue.

v.t. 

10. to build a monument or monuments to;
    commemorate:
    to monument the nation's war dead.
11. to build a monument on:
    to monument a famous site.

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

mon′u•ment•less, adj. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

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
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

Etymology: 13th Century: from Latin monumentum, from monēre to remind, advise

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

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