Meaning & use
memorial
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Meanings
nouncountable
A statue, building or other structure made so that people will remember a person or event.
Grammar: Often followed by to: a memorial to the victims.
Patterns
- a memorial to someone
- a memorial for someone
Visitors left flowers at the war memorial.
The town built a memorial to the fishermen lost at sea.
A small stone memorial marks the spot where the plane crashed.
nouncountable
A ceremony or occasion held to honor someone who has died.
Grammar: Often the memorial service: attend the memorial.
Patterns
- a memorial for someone
- hold a memorial
The family held a memorial for her grandfather on the beach.
Hundreds of students attended the memorial.
A memorial concert raised money for the school.
adjectivebefore a noun
Made or held to honor the memory of someone or something.
Grammar: Always used before a noun: a memorial garden.
Patterns
- memorial service
- memorial fund
The class planted a memorial tree in the schoolyard.
A memorial fund was set up in her name.
The memorial service began at noon.
Word forms
| plural | memorials |
|---|
Common combinations
- war memorial
- A war memorial stands in the village square.
- memorial service
- The memorial service was held in the old church.
- lay a wreath at a memorial
- The mayor laid a wreath at the memorial.
- national memorial
- The park is a national memorial to those who served.
- memorial fund
- Friends established a memorial fund for the injured firefighter.
- build a memorial
- Residents raised money to build a memorial.
Synonyms and how they differ
- monument
- A monument is a large structure that can honor an event or person, while memorial always stresses remembering the dead or lost.
- tribute
- Tribute is a spoken or written act of respect, not usually a physical structure.
- shrine
- Shrine suggests a holy or deeply revered place, whereas a memorial is simply an act of remembrance.
- commemoration
- Commemoration is the event or act of remembering, which is more abstract than a memorial object.
Word family
- memorialize verb
- to honor someone's memory with a structure or ceremony
- memory noun
- the ability to remember, or something remembered
- memorable adjective
- worth remembering
- commemorate verb
- to honor an event or person with a ceremony or object
Commonly confused: memorial or memoir? memorial or memorable?
memorial vs memoir
A memoir is a written account of a person's own life, whereas a memorial honors someone who has died.
memorial vs memorable
Memorable means easy to remember, and has nothing to do with honoring the dead.
Practice
The town built a stone ______ to the sailors lost at sea.
Choose one answer.
A memorial is a structure that honors people who have died. A memoir is a book and a memo is a short note, so neither fits.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “memorial”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.