monumental, a.
(mɒnjuːˈmɛntəl)
[ad. late L. monumentalis, f. L. monument-um monument n.: see -al1. Cf. F. monumental.]
A. adj.
1. Pertaining to a monument or memorial structure, or to monuments in general. † In early use (cf. monument n. 1), pertaining to the tomb, sepulchral.
| 1604 Shakes. Oth. v. ii. 5 Skin..smooth as Monumentall Alabaster. c 1647 Crashaw Upon Death of most desired Mr. Herrys 68 Softly may he be possesst, Of his monumentall rest! 1715–20 Pope Iliad vi. 591 Press'd with a Load of Monumental Clay! 1728 ― Dunc. ii. 313 And Monumental brass this record bears. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 143 Marbled effigies and monumental deposits of the renowned. 1769 Thorpe (title) Registrum Roffense: or, a Collection of..Instruments of divers kinds... Together with the Monumental Inscriptions in the several Churches and Chapels. 1856 Eng. Cycl., Biogr. II. 163 Chantrey's career for the last twenty years of his life, as a monumental sculptor, was unrivalled. 1890 John Bull 5 Apr. 228/1 When the light of monumental history first dawned upon Assyria, the land was found to be inhabited by a Semitic race. |
| fig. 1837 J. Phillips Geol. 6 The general rules of geology contribute continually to fill up the void spaces in its monumental history. |
2. Serving as a monument or memorial.
| 1632 Brome Northern Lasse iii. ii. Wks. 1873 III. 55, I will now bestow my wealth in Monumental good deeds. 1784 Cowper Task i. 276 The Mole..Toils much to earn a monumental pile, That may record the mischiefs he has done. 1785 Burke Sp. Nabob of Arcot's Debts Wks. IV. 30 A name that will be well remembered as..long as the monumental debt of England shall endure. 1817 Rickman Archit. 108 The monumental chapels of this style are peculiarly deserving attention. |
† b. Serving as a memento; also, serving as a proof of identity.
Obs.| 1601 Shakes. All's Well iv. iii. 20 Hee hath giuen her his monumentall Ring. 1657 Thornley tr. Longus' Daphnis & Chloe 207, I exposed her with these monumentall toyes. |
3. Having the aspect of a monument; like a monument.
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 153 Perseuerance, deere my Lord, Keepes honor bright, to haue done, is to hang Quite out of fashion, like a rustie male, In monumentall mockrie. 1632 Milton Penseroso 135 Shadows brown that Sylvan loves Of Pine, or monumental Oake. 1740 E. Baynard Health (ed. 6) 25 Lot's sad monumental wife. 1839 Fraser's Mag. XX. 710 It has really an air quite monumental, as our French neighbours phrase it. 1874 J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 18 A monumental building, such as a church should be. 1879 Sala in Daily Tel. 8 May, The monumental fourpost bed has been taken down. |
4. transf. Comparable to a monument in massiveness and permanence. Often said of literary works. Also,
loosely, vast, stupendous.
| a 1658 Cleveland Gen. Poems, etc. (1677) 77 Defend my Rump, great Iove, allay my grief, O spare me this, this Monumental Beef! 1864 Sala in Daily Tel. 18 Nov., The public began to doubt the veracity of that monumental liar. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. xxii, His monumental obtuseness. 1894 J. T. Fowler Adamnan Pref. 11 Dr. Reeve's original edition of Adamnan, a truly monumental work. 1901 Weekly Reg. 6 Dec. 714 Manuals of etiquette..embodying monumental snobbery and priggishness. |
5. Historically prominent and significant; remaining conspicuous to posterity.
| 1844 Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile 36 Thou shalt be an Idea to all souls;—A monumental melancholy gloom Seen down all ages. 1870 Swinburne Ess. & Stud. (1875) 313 That gallery of monumental men and mighty memories. 1876 Lowell Among my Bks. Ser. ii. 94 The relation of Dante to literature is monumental, and marks the era at which the modern begins. |
† B. n. in pl. a. Identifying tokens.
b. Monumental erections.
Obs. rare.
| 1657 Thornley tr. Longus' Daphnis & Chloe 203 Now it seem'd best..to view the monumentals. a 1687 Cotton Martial viii. iii. 5 When raz'd Messalla's Monumentals must Lye with Licinus's lofty Tomb in dust. |
Hence
monumenˈtality, the quality of being monumental.
| 1888 G. B. Shaw Let. 9 Feb. (1965) 184 If I had..physical monumentality, I should bring London up to the mark. 1890 Scott. Leader 11 Nov. 7 Art, in spite of a number of good artists, lacks monumentality. 1934 J. J. Sweeney Plastic Redirections in 20th Cent. Painting 60 A genuinely new ‘archaism’—an extreme simplicity and monumentality of form, with no necessary naturalistic association. 1937 Archit. Rev. LXXXII. 49/1 The proposed King George V Memorial in Old Palace Yard..epitomizes all that is implied by the hideous word ‘Monumental’. And the chosen site admits of very little monumentality. 1963 Times Lit. Suppl. 4 Jan. 2/3 The sculptor Ivan Schadr..who among many other monumentalities has been responsible for the large moveable pink rose. 1969 R. Banham in Jencks & Baird Meaning in Archit. 108 According to Baird, the Thinkbelt's avoidance of showy monumentality..will lead to practically every fashionable evil in the book. 1974 Impressionism (R. Acad.) 37/1 The strong contrasts between simple planes of colour, and the vigorous forms of tree and house, give the painting a great monumentality. |