landmark

C1 Topic:People & Society

US /ˈlændmɑɹk/ UK /ˈlændmɑːk/ See IPA manual

Freq #16405

Meanings

1

noun
A well-known building or feature that is easy to recognize and helps people find their way.

The clock tower is a famous landmark in the city.
2

noun
A very important event or stage in the development of something.

The discovery was an important landmark in human history.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a well-known building or... monument sight marker

2 noun · a very important event or... milestoneturning point

Word family

Forms landmarks

Derived forms interlandmarklandmarkablelandmarkerlandmarkismlandmarkistpseudolandmarksemilandmark

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

national landmark
A place or structure recognized as significant to a country's history or identity.

Adjective + noun

Etymology

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”).

*landmark Middle English landmearc Old English *landamarku Proto-West Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# landmark

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈlændmɑɹk/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈlændmɑːk/
**Frequency rank:** 16405

## Meanings
1. A well-known building or feature that is easy to recognize and helps people find their way.
2. A very important event or stage in the development of something.

## Examples
- The clock tower is a famous landmark in the city.
- The discovery was an important landmark in human history.

## Derived Forms
- interlandmark
- landmarkable
- landmarker
- landmarkism
- landmarkist
- pseudolandmark
- semilandmark

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *landmark
- Root: landmearc
- Root: *landamarku

## Etymology
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”).

## AI Etymology
Landmark comes 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”). The historical chain includes *landmark (Middle English), landmearc (Old English), and *landamarku (Proto-West Germanic). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as interlandmark, landmarkable, landmarker, and landmarkism. In present use it covers a well-known building or feature that is easy to recognize and helps people find their way and a very important event or stage in the development of something.

## Topics
- People & Society

markdown