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.

   Synonyms: beautify, bedeck, decorate, deck, grace, ornament, prettify; see also Thesaurus: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

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 61:10:

     as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels

   • 1770, [Oliver] Goldsmith, The Deserted Village, a Poem, London: […] W[illiam] Griffin, […], →OCLC, page 10:

     At church, with meek and unaffected grace, / His looks adorned the venerable place; / Truth from his lips prevailed with double ſway, / And fools, who came to ſcoff, remained to pray.

   • 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.

Derived terms

• adornable
• adornation
• adorner
• adorningly
• adorn oneself with borrowed plumes
• disadorn
• misadorn
• overadorn
• readorn
• unadorn

 

Translations

to make more beautiful and attractive; to decorate

• Arabic: زَيَّنَ (ar) (zayyana), زَخْرَفَ (zaḵrafa)
• Armenian: զարդարել (hy) (zardarel)
• Azerbaijani: bəzəmək (az), zinətləndirmək, gözəlləşdirmək, qəşəngləşdirmək
• Bulgarian: украсявам (bg) (ukrasjavam), окичвам (bg) (okičvam)
• Chinese:

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

• Cornish: takla
• 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)
• Galician: adornar (gl)
• German: schmücken (de), zieren (de), verzieren (de)
• Greek: διακοσμώ (el) (diakosmó)

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

• Hebrew: עיטר (he) (itér), קישט (kishét)
• Ingrian: koristaa
• Italian: adornare (it), ornare (it), fregiare, abbellire (it), contornare (it), decorare (it), imbellettare
• Japanese: 飾る (ja) (kazaru)
• Korean: 꾸미다 (ko) (kkumida)
• Latin: adōrnō, como
• Maori: rākai, rākei
• Old English: hrēodan, ġefrætwian
• Persian: آراستن (fa), پیراستن (fa)
• Polish: dekorować (pl), ozdabiać (pl), adornować (pl) impf or pf (obsolete)
• Portuguese: enfeitar (pt), adornar (pt)
• Romagnol: adubêr
• 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)
• Tocharian B: yät-
• Turkmen: bezemek (tk)
• Volapük: dekön (vo)

Noun

adorn

1. (obsolete) adornment
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     Her brest all naked, as nett yvory
     Without adorne of gold or silver bright

Adjective

adorn

1. (obsolete) adorned; ornate
   • 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the page number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     And to realities yield all her shows:
     Made so adorn for thy delight the more

Related terms

• ornament
• ornamentation
• ornate
• suborn

 

Anagrams

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