monument
noun · verb
Simple meaning
An important site that is marked and preserved as public property.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mahnyoomuhntSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈmɑnjumənt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An important site that is marked and preserved as public property
An important site owned by the community as a whole.
A structure built for commemorative or symbolic reasons, or as a memorial; a commemoration.
An important burial vault or tomb.
british
A registered archaeological site or other structure, deemed historic or otherwise worthy of protection.
A burial vault (usually for some famous person)
verb
transitive
To mark or memorialize with a monument.
transitive
To place a surveyor's monument at.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- General and technical use
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An important site that is marked and preserved as public property
Used this way, monument is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It suits considered writing and prepared speech.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Formal and precise
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use monument
- “They visited a historical monument to learn about the past.”
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Memorial consisting of a structure or natural landmark of historic interest.
A stone obelisk built in Washington in 1884 to honor George Washington.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
Relating or belonging to or serving as a monument.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: important site that is marked and preserved as public property
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “monument” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.