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monumental

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Etymology and origin of the French word monumental

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1802 Vivant Denon, Voyage dans la basse et la haute Égypte More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origin
Latin monumentum

Pronunciation

  • /mɔ.ny.mɑ̃.tal/[1]

Forms

monumental (feminine monumentale, masculine plural monumentaux, feminine plural monumentales)[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French monument + -al.[2][3][4] Wiktionary also describes it as a borrowing of Late Latin monumentālis, from monumentum.[1] The base noun was borrowed from Latin in the 12th century.[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first recorded in 1802, in Vivant Denon's account of a journey in Egypt during Bonaparte's campaigns, meaning “relating to (archaeological) monuments”: he speaks of the Egyptians' manie monumentale.[2][6]

Semantic evolution

By 1805 Chateaubriand used it figuratively for something of majestic grandeur, saying that the pine has “something monumental” about it, its branches having the bearing of a pyramid.[2][6][7] In 1813 it meant “having the proportions of a monument” (statues monumentales), and by 1825, through hyperbole, simply “very large”.[2][6]

Familiar, often pejorative uses followed from 1874 (the Petit Robert dates the sense “enormous” to 1873), as when a blunder or a piece of stupidity is called monumental.[6][7] The word gave the adverb monumentalement (20th century) and the noun monumentalité (1909, found once in 1845).[6]

Timeline

  • 1802 – Vivant Denon uses it of Egyptian monuments.[2][6]
  • 1805 – Chateaubriand uses it of the majestic look of a pine.[2][6]
  • 1813 – Gattel records statues monumentales, “of the size of a monument”.[2]
  • 1825 – Brillat-Savarin uses it for something very large.[2]
  • 1874 – Familiar pejorative uses appear.[6]
  • 1909 – The derivative monumentalité is established.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having a majestic grandeur, imposing.[7][2]
  2. (technical) Relating to monuments: l'histoire monumentale d'une ville.[7][2]
  3. Forming part of or made for a monument, on the scale of a monument: une fresque monumentale.[7][8]
  4. (familiar) Enormous, colossal, often pejoratively: une gaffe monumentale.[7][8]

Word family

  • monumentalement
  • monumentalité

Usage notes

The Trésor de la langue française has no record of the sense “having fine monuments”, said of a town, which Quemada's datations note.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Picoche, Jacqueline (1991), Dictionnaire étymologique du français, Paris: Le Robert (Les Usuels du Robert)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  7. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  8. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  9. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
Cite this entry

“Monumental.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/monumental. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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