ornamental definition

English ornamental definition

Etymology

ornament +‎ -al

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɔːnəˈmɛntl/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɔɹnəˈmɛntl/

Adjective

ornamental (comparative more ornamental, superlative most ornamental)

1. Serving as an ornament; having no purpose other than to make more beautiful.

   Synonyms: beautifying, embellishing, decorative

   Some think it most ornamental to wear their bracelets on their wrists; others, about their ankles.

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter I, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book IV:

     We shall leave to the reader to determine with what judgment we have chosen the several occasions for inserting those ornamental parts of our work.

   • 1968, Carl Ruhen, The Key Club, Sydney: Scripts, page 20:

     There were ornamental ponds and shrubs clipped into animal shapes, painted concrete gnomes sitting on mushrooms, pink flamingos standing on one leg[.]

2. (of a plant, fish, etc.) Bred for aesthetic or decorative purposes.

   Those pine trees on the lawn are the fastest-growing ornamentals we could find.

Related terms

• ornamentation
• ornamentally

Translations

Noun

ornamental (plural ornamentals)

1. An ornamental plant.
   • 1991 October 10, Jackson Granholm, “In praise of the tumbleweed”, in News Chronicle, Thousand Oaks, Calif., page B-7, column 3:

     The tumbleweed is a gracious gift from the Russians, having been imported as a favored ornamental from the steppes of central Asia.

Translations

Catalan ornamental definition

Etymology

From ornament +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /oɾ.nə.mənˈtal/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /ur.nə.mənˈtal/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /oɾ.na.menˈtal/
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

ornamental m or f (masculine and feminine plural ornamentals)

1. ornamental

Further reading

• “ornamental” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “ornamental”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2023
• “ornamental” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “ornamental” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician ornamental definition

Etymology

From ornamento +‎ -al.

Adjective

ornamental m or f (plural ornamentais)

1. ornamental

Further reading

• “ornamental” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Portuguese ornamental definition

Etymology

From ornamento (“ornament”) +‎ -al (“of or relating to”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: or‧na‧men‧tal

Adjective

ornamental m or f (plural ornamentais)

1. ornamental

Derived terms

• ornamentalmente

Further reading

• “ornamental” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Romanian ornamental definition

Etymology

Borrowed from French ornemental.

Adjective

ornamental m or n (feminine singular ornamentală, masculine plural ornamentali, feminine and neuter plural ornamentale)

1. ornamental

Declension

Spanish ornamental definition

Etymology

From ornamento +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oɾnamenˈtal/ [oɾ.na.mẽn̪ˈt̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: or‧na‧men‧tal

Adjective

ornamental m or f (masculine and feminine plural ornamentales)

1. ornamental

Derived terms

Related terms

Further reading

• “ornamental”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014