Adorn A·dorn" transitive verb [
imperfect & past participle Adorned ;
present participle & verbal noun Adorning .] [ Middle English
aournen ,
anournen ,
adornen , Old French
aorner , from Latin
aaornare ;
ad +
ornare to furnish, embellish. See
Adore ,
Ornate .]
To deck or dress with ornaments; to embellish; to set off to advantage; to render pleasing or attractive. As a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
Isa. lxi. 10.
At church, with meek and unaffected grace,
His looks adorned the venerable place.
Goldsmith.
Syn. -- To deck; decorate; embellish; ornament; beautify; grace; dignify; exalt; honor. -- To
Adorn ,
Ornament ,
Decorate ,
Embellish . We
decorate and
ornament by putting on some
adjunct which is attractive or beautiful, and which serves to heighten the general effect. Thus, a lady's head-dress may be
ornament or
decorated with flowers or jewelry; a hall may be
decorated or
ornament with carving or gilding, with wreaths of flowers, or with hangings.
Ornament is used in a wider sense than
decorate . To
embellish is to beautify or ornament richly, not so much by mere additions or details as by modifying the thing itself as a whole. It sometimes means gaudy and artificial decoration. We
embellish a book with rich engravings; a style is
embellished with rich and beautiful imagery; a shopkeeper
embellishes his front window to attract attention.
Adorn is sometimes identical with
decorate , as when we say, a lady was
adorned with jewels. In other cases, it seems to imply something more. Thus, we speak of a gallery of paintings as
adorned with the works of some of the great masters, or
adorned with noble statuary and columns. Here
decorated and
ornamented would hardly be appropriate. There is a value in these works of genius beyond mere show and ornament.
Adorn may be used of what is purely moral; as, a character
adorned with every Christian grace. Here neither
decorate , nor
ornament , nor
embellish is proper.