-
Contents
adorn definition
Overview
This page has 3 definitions of adorn in English. Adorn is a verb, noun and adjective. Examples of how to use adorn in a sentence are shown. Also define these 0 related words and terms: .
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
Verb
adorn (third-person singular simple present adorns, present participle adorning, simple past and past participle adorned)
- 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 964384981, Isaiah 61:10:
- as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels
- 1770, [Oliver] Goldsmith, The Deserted Village, a Poem, London: […] W. Griffin, […], OCLC 1227622017, 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
Translations
to make more beautiful and attractive; to decorate
|
|
Noun
adorn
- (obsolete) adornment
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, book 3, canto 12:
- Her brest all naked, as nett yvory
Without adorne of gold or silver bright
Adjective
adorn
- (obsolete) adorned; ornate
- 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the book number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- And to realities yield all her shows:
Made so adorn for thy delight the more