# landmark

Pronunciation: US say "LAND-mark" /ˈlændmɑɹk/; say "LAND-mahk" UK /ˈlændmɑːk/, AUS /ˈlændmɐːk/

## Noun

1. A notable location widely recognized for its historical, cultural, or geographical significance.
   - Simple: A famous place that is important because of its history, culture, or location.
   - _The old courthouse became a beloved landmark after its restoration in the 1920s._
   - _Tourists flocked to the city's landmarks, from the cathedral to the ancient bridge._
2. A recognizable natural or man-made feature that people use to orient themselves or navigate.
   - Simple: Something easy to see, like a tall building or mountain, that helps you find your way.
   - _Sailors once relied on the lighthouse as a landmark when approaching the harbor._
   - _Without familiar landmarks, the pilots had trouble judging their position over the desert._
3. A major event or discovery, one significant enough to mark a turning point in its field.
   - Simple: An event or discovery that is very important and marks a big change.
   - _The discovery of penicillin was a landmark in modern medicine._
   - _Historians regard the printing press as a landmark of human invention._
4. An object, typically a stone or a tree, set up or used to mark the boundary of a piece of land.
   - Simple: A stone, tree, or other object that showed where one piece of land ended.
   - _The deed described the property line as running from the creek to a granite landmark on the hilltop._
   - _Surveyors in colonial Virginia often recorded trees and boulders as landmarks separating adjoining tracts._

## Verb

5. To officially designate a site or building as a landmark, typically through a government preservation process. *(US)*
   - Simple: To officially make a building or place a protected landmark.
   - _The preservation commission voted to landmark the Art Deco office tower._
   - _The brownstone was landmarked in 1985, which restricts changes to its facade._

## Origin

From Middle English landmark, from Old English landmearc ('boundary'), from Proto-West Germanic. It is equivalent to 'land' plus 'mark', and is related to German Landmarke, Danish landemærke, and Swedish landmärke.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/landmark (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).