From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmonumentmon‧u‧ment /ˈmɒnjəmənt $ ˈmɑː-/ ●●○ noun [countable] 1 AAa building, statue, or other large structure that is built to remind people of an important event or famous person → memorial He erected a monument on the spot where his daughter was killed.monument to a fitting monument to the men who died in the battle2 AAa very old building or place that is important historically Ancient monuments are protected by law.3 → be a monument to somebody/something → national monument
Examples from the Corpus
monument• The development of polio vaccines, present and future, is a monument to several important things.• Still, this cement and glass monument to eavesdropping will likely remain off the tourist maps for many years to come.• A landowner could have his monument protected if he wished but he might prefer to maltreat it or destroy it completely.• Ellis Island is preserved as a historic monument.• At daybreak or dusk, the pyramids most resemble the limestone monuments seen by the old explorers.• Memorial monuments usually celebrate triumphs rather than the state's decimation of cultures and peoples.• These are the monuments to generations of individual farmers ploughing and draining their fields.• Arnold Kaech, chairman of the Schilthornbahn, decided to replace the monument.Origin monument (1200-1300) Latin monumentum, from monere “to remind” 