ornament

From Middle English ornament, from Old French ornement, from Latin ornamentum (“equipment, apparatus, furniture, trappings, adornment, embellishment”), from ornāre, present active infinitive of I equip, adorn. The verb is derived from the noun.

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• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɔːnəmənt/, enPR: ôʹnə-mənt
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɔɹnəmənt/, enPR: ôrʹnə-mənt
• Rhymes: -ɔɹnəmənt

ornament (countable and uncountable, plural ornaments)

1. An element of decoration; that which embellishes or adorns.
   • Tennyson

     Like that long-buried body of the king / Found lying with his urns and ornaments.

   • 1919, P. G. Wodehouse, My Man Jeeves

     I'm a bit short on brain myself; the old bean would appear to have been constructed more for ornament than for use.

   • 2012 March 1, Brian Hayes, “Pixels or Perish”, in American Scientist‎, volume 100, number 2, page 106:

     Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.

2. A Christmas tree decoration.
3. (music) A musical flourish that is unnecessary to the overall melodic or harmonic line, but serves to decorate or "ornament" that line.
4. (Christianity, in the plural) The articles used in church services.
5. (biology) A characteristic that has a decorative function (typically in order to attract a mate)

• ornate
• ornamental
• ornamentation

ornament (third-person singular simple present ornaments, present participle ornamenting, simple past and past participle ornamented)

1. To decorate.

   We will ornament the windows with trim to make the room seem brighter.

2. To add to.

   The editor ornamented his plain writing, making it fancier but less clear.

• (decorate): adorn, bedeck, decorate, embellish, trim

• ornament in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• ornament in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

ornament m (plural ornaments)

1. ornament

From Latin ornamentum

ornament n (definite singular ornamentet, indefinite plural ornament or ornamenter, definite plural ornamenta or ornamentene)

1. an ornament

• ornamentikk

• “ornament” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “ornament” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

From Latin ornamentum

ornament n (definite singular ornamentet, indefinite plural ornament, definite plural ornamenta)

1. an ornament

• ornamentikk

• “ornament” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.