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Monument
Word Nerd
Act 3,
Scene 2
Lines 87-91

An explanation of the word “monument” in Act 3, Scene 2 of myShakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Petruchio

But where is Kate? Where is my lovely bride?
How does my father? Gentles, methinks you frown;    
And wherefore gaze, this goodly company,    
As if they saw some wondrous monument,
Some comet or unusual prodigy?    

The word “monument” derives from the almost identical Latin word, monumentum, which had the same meaning as our modern English word: a statue or other public work built as a memorial to an important person. But in Shakespeare’s day, monument had a more specific meaning: an elaborately carved tomb. That’s how it’s being used here.