ornament

B2 Topic:Architecture & Buildings

US /ˈɔɹnəmənt/ UK /ˈɔː(ɹ)nəmənt/ See IPA manual

Freq #18001

Meanings

1

noun
An object used to decorate something and make it more attractive.

They hung shiny ornaments on the Christmas tree.
2

verb
To decorate or add beauty to something.

Gold leaf ornamented the edges of the manuscript.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · an object used to decorate... adornment decoration

2 verb · to decorate or add beauty... adorn decorate embellish

Word family

Forms ornamentedornamentingornamentsunornamented

Derived forms ornamentalornamentaryornamentistornamentlessornamentoroverornamentreornament

Related forms adorn ornamentation ornate suborn

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

architectural ornament
a decorative feature added to a building

Adjective + noun

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.

*h₂er- Proto-Indo-European ornament Middle English ornement Old French ornamentum Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Architecture & Buildings Abstract Ideas

External links

# ornament

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈɔɹnəmənt/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈɔː(ɹ)nəmənt/
**Frequency rank:** 18001

## Meanings
1. An object used to decorate something and make it more attractive.
2. To decorate or add beauty to something.

## Examples
- They hung shiny ornaments on the Christmas tree.
- Gold leaf ornamented the edges of the manuscript.

## Derived Forms
- ornamental
- ornamentary
- ornamentist
- ornamentless
- ornamentor
- overornament
- reornament

## Related Forms
- adorn
- ornamentation
- ornate
- suborn

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *h₂er-
- Root: ornament
- Root: ornement
- Root: ornamentum

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Ornament comes 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. The historical chain includes Proto-Indo-European *h₂er-, Middle English ornament, Old French ornement, and Latin ornamentum. Modern senses include an object used to decorate something and make it more attractive and to decorate or add beauty to something. The wider word family includes derivatives such as ornamental, ornamentary, ornamentist, ornamentless, ornamentor, and overornament and related forms such as adorn, ornamentation, ornate, and suborn.

## Topics
- Architecture & Buildings
- Abstract Ideas

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