Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A structure, such as a building or sculpture, erected as a memorial.
  • noun An inscribed marker placed at a grave; a tombstone.
  • noun Something venerated for its enduring historic significance or association with a notable past person or thing.
  • noun An outstanding enduring achievement.
  • noun An exceptional example.
  • noun An object, such as a post or stone, fixed in the ground so as to mark a boundary or position.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A conspicuous crag of a somewhat pillar-like and symmetrical form.
  • To erect a monument in memory of.
  • To place monuments on; adorn with monuments: as, a region monumented with glorious deeds.
  • noun Anything by which the memory of a person, a period, or an event is preserved or perpetuated; hence, any conspicuous, permanent, or splendid building, as a medieval cathedral, or any work of art or industry constituting a memorial of the past; a memorial.
  • noun Specifically, a pile, pillar, or other structure erected expressly in memory of events, actions, or persons.
  • noun A stone shaft, or a structure of stone or other enduring material, erected over a grave in memory of the dead.
  • noun 4. A burial-vault; a tomb.
  • noun Any enduring evidence or example; a singular or notable instance.
  • noun In surveying and the law of conveyancing, any object, natural or artificial, fixed in the soil and referred to in a deed or other document as a means of ascertaining the location of a tract of land or any part of its boundaries.
  • noun A treatise.
  • noun Distinctive mark; stamp.
  • noun =Syn. 1-3. Memento, etc. See memorial.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Something which stands, or remains, to keep in remembrance what is past; a memorial.
  • noun A building, pillar, stone, or the like, erected to preserve the remembrance of a person, event, action, etc.. Also, a tomb, with memorial inscriptions.
  • noun A stone or other permanent object, serving to indicate a limit or to mark a boundary.
  • noun A saying, deed, or example, worthy of record.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A structure built for commemorative or symbolic reasons, or as a memorial; a commemoration.
  • noun An important site owned by the community as a whole.
  • noun An exceptional or proud achievement.
  • noun An important burial vault or tomb.
  • noun A legal document.
  • noun A surveying reference point marked by a permanently fixed marker (a survey monument).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a burial vault (usually for some famous person)
  • noun an important site that is marked and preserved as public property
  • noun a structure erected to commemorate persons or events

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Latin monumentum, memorial, from monēre, to remind; see men- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin monumentum ("memorial"), from monēre ("to remind")

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