Etymologically
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monument

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈmɒn.jə.mənt/, US /ˈmɑːn.jə.mənt/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French monument (“grave, tomb, monument”) and directly Latin monumentum (“something that reminds; memorial, tomb”),[2][3][4] from moneō (“to remind, warn”) (see monitor) and -mentum,[2][3][5] from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to think”).[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A sepulchre or tomb: about 1280 in Barnhart, before 1300 in the OED, the late 13th century in Etymonline.[2][6][3]

Semantic evolution

A written document or legal record is from about 1440,[6][4] and an indication or token of something from 1605.[6] Anything that commemorates a person or event by surviving is from about 1530,[6] and an enduring evidence or example from the 1520s in Etymonline, 1675 in the OED.[3][6] A structure built to commemorate a person or event is attested from about 1600,[3] or the 16th century according to Hoad.[4] In US law a monument is a fixed object marking a boundary (1828–32).[6] The adjective monumental is from 1604, in Shakespeare's Othello.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1280 – a tomb.[2]
  • c. 1440 – a written record.[6]
  • c. 1530 – something commemorative.[6]
  • c. 1600 – a commemorative structure.[3]
  • 1604 – monumental.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A statue, building or other structure erected in memory of a person or event.
  2. A tombstone or memorial marker over a grave.
  3. A notable building or site, especially one preserved as public property.
  4. An outstanding or enduring example: a monument of tedium.
  5. In the US, a boundary marker.

Word family

  • monumentless
  • national monument
  • Monument Valley

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press