adorn

English

Etymology

From Middle English adornen, adournen, from Latin adōrnāre, present active infinitive of adōrnō; from ad +‎ ōrnō (“furnish, embellish”). See adore, ornate. Replaced earlier Middle English aournen (“to adorn”) borrowed from Old French aorner, from the same Latin source.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈdɔɹn/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈdɔː(ɹ)n/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)n

Verb

adorn (third-person singular simple present adorns, present participle adorning, simple past and past participle adorned)

1. To make more beautiful and attractive; to decorate.

   a man adorned with noble statuary and columns

   a character adorned with every Christian grace

   a gallery of paintings was adorned with the works of some of the great masters

   • Bible, Isa. lxi. 10

     as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels

   • (Can we date this quote by Goldsmith and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     At church, with meek and unaffected grace, / His looks adorned the venerable place.

   • 1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, →ISBN, page 38:

     Durable, water-resistant and easy to clean, tiles have adorned Persian mosques, Moorish palaces and the parlors of Dutch burgers.

Synonyms

• beautify
• bedeck
• decorate
• deck
• grace
• ornament
• prettify
• See also Thesaurus:decorate

Translations

to make more beautiful and attractive; to decorate

• Arabic: زَيَّنَ (ar) (zayyana)
• Armenian: զարդարել (hy) (zardarel)
• Bulgarian: украсявам (bg) (ukrasjavam), окичвам (bg) (okičvam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 点缀 (zh) (diǎnzhuì), 修饰 (zh) (xiūshì)

• Czech: zdobit (cs)
• Danish: pryde, udsmykke, smykke (da)
• Dutch: sieren (nl)
• Esperanto: ornami
• Finnish: komistaa (fi), koristaa (fi), koristella (fi)
• French: décorer (fr), orner (fr), parer (fr)
• German: schmücken (de), zieren (de), verzieren (de)
• Greek: διακοσμώ (el) (diakosmó)

  Ancient: κοσμέω (kosméō), δαιδάλλω (daidállō) (Epic)

• Hebrew: עיטר (itér), קישט (kishét)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Interlingue: ,
• Italian: adornare (it), ornare (it), fregiare, abbellire (it), contornare (it), decorare (it), imbellettare
• Korean: 꾸미다 (ko) (kkumida)
• Latin: adōrnō
• Maori: rākai, rākei
• Old English: ġefrætwian
• Persian: آراستن (fa), پیراستن (fa)
• Portuguese: adornar (pt)
• Romanian: decora (ro), ornamenta (ro), înfrumuseța (ro), împodobi (ro), orna (ro)
• Russian: украша́ть (ru) impf (ukrašátʹ), укра́сить (ru) pf (ukrásitʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: sgeadaich
• Spanish: adornar (es), ornar (es), engalanar (es)
• Swedish: pryda (sv), smycka (sv)
• Volapük: dekön (vo)

Noun

adorn

1. (obsolete) adornment

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Edmund Spenser to this entry?)

Adjective

adorn

1. (obsolete) adorned; ornate

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Milton to this entry?)

Anagrams

• Ardon, Daron, Doran, Drona, NORAD, Nardo, Ronda, and/or, andro, andro-, norad, radon, rando