Monumental

How to spell monumental

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce monumental

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does monumental mean?

1. adjectiveExtremely large, important, or impressive in scale or significance.
2. adjectiveRelating to or serving as a monument or memorial.

Monumental in a sentence

• Finishing the renovation on time was a monumental achievement for the small team.

• The cemetery is known for its elaborate monumental stonework and carved inscriptions.

• Clearing decades of paperwork from the archive proved a monumental task.

• The museum holds a collection of monumental brasses removed from old churches.

Where does monumental come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb monere, which meant 'to remind' or 'to warn'. From that verb the Romans formed monumentum, literally a thing that reminds, which came to mean a memorial, statue, or commemorative structure raised to keep a memory alive. English took in 'monument' from Old French during the 1300s, and the adjective 'monumental' followed, first describing something connected with a monument and later, by the 1600s, anything as imposing, massive, or enduring as a great memorial. The same monere root quietly survives in everyday words such as 'monitor', 'admonish', and 'premonition', all of which carry that original sense of giving a warning or reminder. The spelling trap sits in the middle: the unstressed 'u' is barely heard, so writers can be tempted to drop it or swap it, but it comes straight from monumentum and stays put.

How the word is built

• monu- (from Latin monere: to remind, to warn)
• -ment (noun-forming suffix denoting the result)
• -al (adjective suffix)