ornament

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word ornament. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word ornament, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say ornament in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word ornament you have here. The definition of the word ornament will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofornament, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
See also: Ornament

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English ornament, from Old French ornement, from Latin ornamentum (equipment, apparatus, furniture, trappings, adornment, embellishment), from ornāre, present active infinitive of ornō (I equip, adorn). The verb is derived from the noun.

Pronunciation

  • (noun)
    • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɔː(ɹ)nəmənt/
    • (US) IPA(key): /ˈɔɹnəmənt/, enPR: ôrʹnə-mənt
    • (file)
  • (verb)
    • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈɔː(ɹ)nəmənt/, /ˈɔː(ɹ)nəˌmɛnt/
    • (US) IPA(key): /ˈɔɹnəmənt/, /ˈɔɹnəˌmɛnt/, enPR: ôrʹnə-mənt, ôrʹnə-mĕnt'

Noun

ornament (countable and uncountable, plural ornaments)

  1. An element of decoration; that which embellishes or adorns.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:decoration
    • 1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Aylmer’s Field”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., , →OCLC, page 51:
      Dust are our frames; and, gilded dust, our pride / Looks only for a moment whole and sound; / Like that long-buried body of the king / Found lying with his urns and ornaments, / Which at a touch of light, an air of heaven, / Slipt into ashes and was found no more.
    • 1919, P. G. Wodehouse, My Man Jeeves:
      I'm a bit short on brain myself; the old bean would appear to have been constructed more for ornament than for use.
    • 2012 March, Brian Hayes, “Pixels or Perish”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 19 February 2013, page 106:
      Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.
  2. A Christmas tree decoration.
  3. (music) A musical flourish that is unnecessary to the overall melodic or harmonic line, but serves to decorate that line.
  4. (Christianity, in the plural) The articles used in church services.
  5. (biology) A characteristic that has a decorative function (typically in order to attract a mate)

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

ornament (third-person singular simple present ornaments, present participle ornamenting, simple past and past participle ornamented)

  1. To decorate.
    We will ornament the windows with trim to make the room seem brighter.
  2. To add to.
    The editor ornamented his plain writing, making it fancier but less clear.
    • 2021 July 12, Nicholas Barber, “The French Dispatch: Four stars for Wes Anderson's latest”, in BBC:
      Not a scene goes by that hasn't been ornamented with a split screen, a freeze frame, a caption, a voice-over, a switch between monochrome and colour, or a change of the aspect radio[sic].

Synonyms

Translations

Further reading

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin ōrnāmentum.

Pronunciation

Noun

ornament m (plural ornaments)

  1. ornament

Derived terms

Further reading

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology

From Latin ornamentum.

Noun

ornament n (definite singular ornamentet, indefinite plural ornament or ornamenter, definite plural ornamenta or ornamentene)

  1. an ornament

Derived terms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin ornamentum.

Noun

ornament n (definite singular ornamentet, indefinite plural ornament, definite plural ornamenta)

  1. an ornament

Derived terms

References

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ōrnāmentum.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɔrˈna.mɛnt/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -amɛnt
  • Syllabification: or‧na‧ment

Noun

ornament m inan

  1. (architecture, art, typography) ornament, adornment
  2. (music) ornament

Declension

Descendants

  • Ukrainian: орна́мент (ornáment)

Further reading

  • ornament in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • ornament in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French ornament, from Latin ornamentum.

Noun

ornament n (plural ornamente)

  1. ornament

Declension