| 释义 |
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.
1604Shakes. Oth. v. ii. 5 Skin..smooth as Monumentall Alabaster. c1647Crashaw Upon Death of most desired Mr. Herrys 68 Softly may he be possesst, Of his monumentall rest! 1715–20Pope Iliad vi. 591 Press'd with a Load of Monumental Clay! 1728― Dunc. ii. 313 And Monumental brass this record bears. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 143 Marbled effigies and monumental deposits of the renowned. 1769Thorpe (title) Registrum Roffense: or, a Collection of..Instruments of divers kinds... Together with the Monumental Inscriptions in the several Churches and Chapels. 1856Eng. Cycl., Biogr. II. 163 Chantrey's career for the last twenty years of his life, as a monumental sculptor, was unrivalled. 1890John 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.1837J. 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.
1632Brome Northern Lasse iii. ii. Wks. 1873 III. 55, I will now bestow my wealth in Monumental good deeds. 1784Cowper Task i. 276 The Mole..Toils much to earn a monumental pile, That may record the mischiefs he has done. 1785Burke 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. 1817Rickman 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.
1601Shakes. All's Well iv. iii. 20 Hee hath giuen her his monumentall Ring. 1657Thornley tr. Longus' Daphnis & Chloe 207, I exposed her with these monumentall toyes.
3. Having the aspect of a monument; like a monument.
1606Shakes. 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. 1632Milton Penseroso 135 Shadows brown that Sylvan loves Of Pine, or monumental Oake. 1740E. Baynard Health (ed. 6) 25 Lot's sad monumental wife. 1839Fraser's Mag. XX. 710 It has really an air quite monumental, as our French neighbours phrase it. 1874J. T. Micklethwaite Mod. Par. Churches 18 A monumental building, such as a church should be. 1879Sala 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.
a1658Cleveland Gen. Poems, etc. (1677) 77 Defend my Rump, great Iove, allay my grief, O spare me this, this Monumental Beef! 1864Sala in Daily Tel. 18 Nov., The public began to doubt the veracity of that monumental liar. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. xxii, His monumental obtuseness. 1894J. T. Fowler Adamnan Pref. 11 Dr. Reeve's original edition of Adamnan, a truly monumental work. 1901Weekly Reg. 6 Dec. 714 Manuals of etiquette..embodying monumental snobbery and priggishness.
5. Historically prominent and significant; remaining conspicuous to posterity.
1844Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile 36 Thou shalt be an Idea to all souls;—A monumental melancholy gloom Seen down all ages. 1870Swinburne Ess. & Stud. (1875) 313 That gallery of monumental men and mighty memories. 1876Lowell 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.
1657Thornley tr. Longus' Daphnis & Chloe 203 Now it seem'd best..to view the monumentals. a1687Cotton 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.
1888G. B. Shaw Let. 9 Feb. (1965) 184 If I had..physical monumentality, I should bring London up to the mark. 1890Scott. Leader 11 Nov. 7 Art, in spite of a number of good artists, lacks monumentality. 1934J. 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. 1937Archit. 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. 1963Times Lit. Suppl. 4 Jan. 2/3 The sculptor Ivan Schadr..who among many other monumentalities has been responsible for the large moveable pink rose. 1969R. 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. 1974Impressionism (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. |