I. ˈmänyəmənt noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin monumentum, monimentum, from monēre to remind + -mentum -ment — more at mind
1. obsolete : a burial vault : sepulcher
her body sleeps in Capel's monument , and her immortal part with angels lives — Shakespeare
2. archaic : a written legal document or record : treatise
the critical study of the monuments of Roman and feudal law — Mark Pattison
3.
a. : something that by surviving represents or testifies to the greatness or achievement especially of an individual or an age
visible monuments to the early struggles of the pioneers … are the old forts — American Guide Series: Maine
the circular world map drawn on a single skein of vellum … is one of the great cartographic monuments — British Book News
whose life work was a monument to pure science — H.J.Muller
b.
(1) : a conspicuous instance : a notable example
the great Connecticut dictionary stood as a monument of New England learning — Van Wyck Brooks
that speech … was a model, or rather a monument , of beautiful English utterance — George Sampson
that monument of dignity would never connive at anything — Margery Allingham
(2) : one of unusual prominence : a distinguished figure
the answer must be sought in the period before the man became a monument — G.W.Johnson
made himself into a monument within his own lifetime — Walter Millis
4. : a structure (as a pillar, stone, or building) erected or maintained in memory of the dead or to preserve the remembrance of a person, event, or action
the Lincoln Memorial is a monument to a great president
monuments celebrating the victories of war — R.B.Fosdick
the first monument in Italy to depict Christ as a worker — Time
5. archaic : an identifying mark : evidence ; also : portent , sign
gaze … as if they saw some wondrous monument , some comet or unusual prodigy — Shakespeare
6. obsolete : a carved statue : effigy
if the quick fire of youth light not your mind, you are no maiden but a monument — Shakespeare
7. : a natural or artificial but permanent object serving to indicate a limit or to mark a boundary (as a lake, stream, blazed tree, iron pin)
8. : a natural feature (as a mountain or canyon) or an area of special historic or scientific interest (as a battle site or fossil remains) that is set aside by a local or national government as public property
9. : a rock pinnacle or column resulting from erosion and resembling a man-made monument — compare hoodoo
10. : a written tribute : testimonial
a model of appreciative biography, a charming monument to a great man — T.F.Hamlin
II. -ˌment, -_mənt — see -ment II transitive verb
( ed/-ing/-s )
1. : to erect a monument to : signalize the memory of : commemorate
2. : to place or set up monuments on
erected chapels and altars there, and monumented the places of sacred scenes and associations — Hezekiah Butterworth
3. : to mark with monuments in surveying
in locating, monumenting, and mapping the boundary, extensive use has been made of the geodetic maps of North America — U.S. Daily