ornament
pronunciation
How to pronounce ornament in British English:
UK [ˈɔːnəmənt , ˈɔːnəment]
How to pronounce ornament in American English:
US [ˈɔːrnəmənt , ˈɔːrnəment]
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- Noun:
- something used to beautify
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- Verb:
- make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.
- be an ornament to
Word Origin
- ornament
- ornament: [14] Ornament comes from Latin ōrnāmentum, a derivative of the verb ōrnāre ‘equip, get ready’, hence ‘decorate’. This also forms the basis of English adorn [14] and suborn [16] (etymologically ‘equip secretly’).=> adorn, suborn
- ornament (n.)
- early 13c., "an accessory," from Old French ornement "ornament, decoration," and directly from Latin ornamentum "apparatus, equipment, trappings; embellishment, decoration, trinket," from ornare "equip, adorn" (see ornate). Meaning "decoration, embellishment" in English is attested from late 14c. (also a secondary sense in classical Latin). Figurative use from 1550s.
- ornament (v.)
- 1720, from ornament (n.). Middle English used ournen (late 14c.) in this sense, from Old French orner, from Latin ornare. Related: Ornamented; ornamenting.
Synonym
Example
- 1. For residential buildings , too , applied ornament was rejected .
- 2. The marble walls are decorated with national ornament .
- 3. Naughtiest moment : the killer stabs a young woman to death with a unicorn christmas ornament .
- 4. Its fame reached as far as a quiet christian saxony where a christian nun described the city as the brilliant ornament of the world .
- 5. For those suspicious that china harbours mercantilist , zero-sum designs on global resources , it is an ornament worthy of a bond villain 's lair .