adorn

B2 Topic:Cause, Change & Process

US /əˈdɔɹn/ UK /əˈdɔː(ɹ)n/ See IPA manual

Freq #25153

Meanings

1

verb
To decorate something or make it more attractive.

They adorned the garden with fountains and statues.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to decorate something or... ornament decorate beautify deck

Word family

Forms adornedadorningadorns

Etymology

From Middle English adornen, adournen, from Latin adōrnāre; 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.

*h₂er- Proto-Indo-European adornen Middle English adōrnō Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Cause, Change & Process

External links

# adorn

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /əˈdɔɹn/
**IPA (UK):** /əˈdɔː(ɹ)n/
**Frequency rank:** 25153

## Meanings
1. To decorate something or make it more attractive.

## Examples
- They adorned the garden with fountains and statues.

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *h₂er-
- Root: adornen
- Root: adōrnō

## Etymology
From Middle English adornen, adournen, from Latin adōrnāre; 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.

## AI Etymology
Adorn comes from Middle English adornen, adournen, from Latin adōrnāre; from ad- plus ōrnō (“furnish, embellish”). Compare adore, ornate. Replaced earlier Middle English aournen (“to adorn”) borrowed from Old French aorner, from the same Latin source. The historical line also includes Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- and Latin adōrnō. The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adjectival form is built from the named base and affix.

## Topics
- Cause, Change & Process

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