ornament
UK/ˈɔː(ɹ)nəmənt//ˈɔɹnəmənt/
ornament noun: an element of decoration; that which embellishes or adorns.
Noun
ornament (countable and uncountable, plural ornaments)
- An element of decoration; that which embellishes or adorns.
- 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.1864, Alfred Tennyson, “Aylmer’s Field”, in Enoch Arden, &c., London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 51
- I'm a bit short on brain myself; the old bean would appear to have been constructed more for ornament than for use.1919, P. G. Wodehouse, My Man Jeeves
- Synonyms:
- adornment, decoration, embellishment, garniture, garnish, garnishment, ornamentation
- Christmas ornament: a Christmas tree decoration.
- A musical flourish that is unnecessary to the overall melodic or harmonic line, but serves to decorate that line.
- The articles used in church services.
- A characteristic that has a decorative function (typically in order to attract a mate)
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.
- After this, perhaps, the next most imposing structure in Liverpool is the railway station; it is built of stone, richly ornamented with thirty-six columns of the Corinthian order.1958 October, “Liverpool to London in 1842”, in Railway Magazine, page 679
- To add to.
- The editor ornamented his plain writing, making it fancier but less clear.
- 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]).2021 July 12, Nicholas Barber, “The French Dispatch: Four stars for Wes Anderson's latest”, in BBC
ornament meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
ornament in Hindi
- element of decoration
- आभूषण ābhūṣaṇ, अलंकार alaṅkār, जेवर jevar
- to decorate
- सजाना sajānā
ornament in Tamil
- அணிகலன், ஆபரணம்
ornament in Marathi
- ornament, jewel; a piece of jewellery
- दागिना dāginā
ornament in Urdu
- ornament, adornment, embellishment, decoration
- النکار alaṅkār
- ornament; jewellery
- گہنا gahnā
More languagesFewer languages
- ornament in Bengali
- গহনা gohona, ভূষণ bhuśon, ভূষা bhuśa, অলঙ্কার oloṅkar
- ornament in Telugu
- ఆభరణము ābharaṇamu, భూషణము bhūṣaṇamu
- ornament in Malayalam
- ആഭരണം ābharaṇaṁ, അലങ്കാരം alaṅkāraṁ
- ornament in Kannada
- ಪರಿಕೆ, ಒಡವೆ, ತೊಡುಗೆ, ತುಡಿಗೆ
- ornament in Punjabi
- ਸ਼ਿੰਗਾਰ śiṅgār
- ornament in Odia
- ଅଳଙ୍କାର aḷaṅkāra, ଅଳଙ୍କରଣ aḷaṅkaraṇa
- ornament in Sanskrit
- भूषण bhūṣaṇa
- ornament in Assamese
- গহনা gohona
- ornament in Pashto
- ګاڼه gānna, کالي kāli
- ornament in Arabic
- حِلْيَة ḥilya
- ornament in Persian
- آذین âzin
Examples of ornament in a sentence
- The facade of the building was ornamented with obtrusive sculpted designs.
- She had more jewellery ornamented about her than any three ladies needed.
- The Christmas tree fell in a flutter of ornaments and pine needles.
Synonyms of ornament
Forms of ornament
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | ornaments |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | ornaments |
| present participle | ornamenting |
| past participle | ornamented |
| past | ornamented |
Origin of ornament
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.
Words formed from ornament
Questions about ornament
- What does ornament mean?
- Ornament means an element of decoration; that which embellishes or adorns.
- What is ornament in Hindi?
- Ornament in Hindi is आभूषण (ābhūṣaṇ), अलंकार (alaṅkār), जेवर (jevar). See Ornament meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is ornament?
- Ornament can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce ornament?
- Ornament is pronounced /ˈɔː(ɹ)nəmənt/ (UK).
- What is the plural of ornament?
- The plural of ornament is ornaments.
Words near ornament in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ornament (page history and authors); ornament (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); दागिना (Marathi) (page history and authors); النکار (Urdu) (page history and authors); অলঙ্কার (Bengali) (page history and authors); ornament (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਸ਼ਿੰਗਾਰ (Punjabi) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-ornament.ogg.
Cite this entry: “ornament.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ornament. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.