landmark
- 01 B1 Intermediate
n.a building or natural feature that is easy to see and helps you know where you are.
n.a prominent or conspicuous object on land that serves as a guide for travellers or for identifying a location.
Simple“The Eiffel Tower is the most famous landmark in Paris.”
In context“Sailors once relied on that jagged coastal cliff as a vital landmark to navigate the treacherous entrance to the bay.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.an important stage or event in the development of something.
n.an event, discovery, or change that marks an important stage or turning point in a process.
Simple“The invention of the lightbulb was a landmark in human history.”
In context“The 1964 Civil Rights Act stands as a landmark of social legislation that fundamentally altered the American legal landscape.”
Synonyms - 03 C2 Proficiency
n.an object, like a stone or tree, used to show where a piece of land ends.
n.a physical object used to mark the boundary of a property or territory.
Simple“The old oak tree served as a landmark between the two farms for centuries.”
In context“The surveyors searched for the original stone landmark mentioned in the eighteenth-century deed to resolve the property dispute.”
Synonymsboundary stoneborder - 04 C1 Advanced
v.to officially name a building as a landmark so it cannot be destroyed.
v.to grant a building or site official status as a landmark, typically to ensure its preservation.
Simple“The city council voted to landmark the historic theatre to save it from developers.”
In context“Preservationists are campaigning to landmark the mid-century industrial complex before the demolition permits are approved.”
UsageThe verb is transitive and requires a direct object.
“The sky will go dark for six minutes or more over landmarks like the Rock of Gibraltar, the casbah of Tangier and the temples of Luxor, Egypt.”
“Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland were cloudier, but it did not stop crowds turning out at famous landmarks across the country.”
From Middle English landmark, from Old English landmearc (“boundary”), from Proto-West Germanic landamarku (“boundary, landmark”). Equivalent to land + mark. Cognate with German Landmarke (“landmark”), Danish landemærke (“landmark”), Swedish landmärke (“landmark”), Norwegian landemerke (“landmark”) and Faroese landamark (“land frontier”). Compare also Middle English londes-mark (“boundary”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.