Ornament
noun, verb ·Common ·Middle school level
Definitions
- 1 An element of decoration; that which embellishes or adorns. countable, uncountable
"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."
- 2 something used to beautify wordnet
- 3 An element of decoration; that which embellishes or adorns.; Ellipsis of Christmas ornament; a Christmas tree decoration. abbreviation, alt-of, broadly, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
- 4 A musical flourish that is unnecessary to the overall melodic or harmonic line, but serves to decorate that line. countable, uncountable
- 5 The articles used in church services. countable, in-plural, uncountable
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- 6 A characteristic that has a decorative function (typically in order to attract a mate) countable, uncountable
- 1 To decorate.
"We will ornament the windows with trim to make the room seem brighter."
- 2 make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc. wordnet
- 3 To add to.
"The editor ornamented his plain writing, making it fancier but less clear."
- 4 be an ornament to wordnet
Example
More examples"The royal navy of England hath ever been its greatest defense and ornament; it is its ancient and natural strength; the floating bulwark of our island."
Etymology
From Middle English ornament, from Old French ornement, from Latin ornamentum (“equipment, apparatus, furniture, trappings, adornment, embellishment”), from ornāre (“to equip, adorn”). The verb is derived from the noun.
Related phrases
More for "ornament"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.