ornament
English
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)
- (verb)
Noun
ornament (countable and uncountable, plural ornaments)
- 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[1], 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.
- A Christmas tree decoration.
- (music) A musical flourish that is unnecessary to the overall melodic or harmonic line, but serves to decorate that line.
- (Christianity, in the plural) The articles used in church services.
- (biology) A characteristic that has a decorative function (typically in order to attract a mate)
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
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Verb
ornament (third-person singular simple present ornaments, present participle ornamenting, simple past and past participle ornamented)
- To decorate.
- We will ornament the windows with trim to make the room seem brighter.
- 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[2]:
- 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 – meaning ratio].
Synonyms
Translations
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Further reading
- “ornament”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “ornament”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin ōrnāmentum.
Pronunciation
Noun
ornament m (plural ornaments)
Derived terms
Further reading
- “ornament” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “ornament”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
- “ornament” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “ornament” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From Latin ornamentum.
Noun
ornament n (definite singular ornamentet, indefinite plural ornament or ornamenter, definite plural ornamenta or ornamentene)
- an ornament
Derived terms
References
- “ornament” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
- “ornament” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
From Latin ornamentum.
Noun
ornament n (definite singular ornamentet, indefinite plural ornament, definite plural ornamenta)
- an ornament
Derived terms
References
- “ornament” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Polish
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin ōrnāmentum.
Pronunciation
Noun
ornament m inan
Declension
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
nominative | ornament | ornamenty |
genitive | ornamentu | ornamentów |
dative | ornamentowi | ornamentom |
accusative | ornament | ornamenty |
instrumental | ornamentem | ornamentami |
locative | ornamencie | ornamentach |
vocative | ornamencie | ornamenty |
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)
Declension
singular | plural | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
+ indefinite article | + definite article | + indefinite article | + definite article | ||
nominative/accusative | (un) ornament | ornamentul | (niște) ornamente | ornamentele | |
genitive/dative | (unui) ornament | ornamentului | (unor) ornamente | ornamentelor | |
vocative | ornamentule | ornamentelor |
Swedish
Noun
ornament n
- an ornament
Declension
Related terms
References
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂er-
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- en:Music
- en:Christianity
- en:Biology
- English verbs
- English terms with usage examples
- English heteronyms
- en:Appearance
- Catalan terms borrowed from Latin
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan nouns
- Catalan countable nouns
- Catalan masculine nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Bokmål lemmas
- Norwegian Bokmål nouns
- Norwegian Bokmål neuter nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk terms derived from Latin
- Norwegian Nynorsk lemmas
- Norwegian Nynorsk nouns
- Norwegian Nynorsk neuter nouns
- Polish terms borrowed from Latin
- Polish learned borrowings from Latin
- Polish terms derived from Latin
- Polish 3-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:Polish/amɛnt
- Rhymes:Polish/amɛnt/3 syllables
- Polish lemmas
- Polish nouns
- Polish masculine nouns
- Polish inanimate nouns
- pl:Architecture
- pl:Art
- pl:Typography
- pl:Music
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian nouns
- Romanian countable nouns
- Romanian neuter nouns
- Swedish lemmas
- Swedish nouns
- Swedish neuter nouns