pendant
Americannoun
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pendants
plural
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a hanging ornament, as an earring or the main piece suspended from a necklace.
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an ornament suspended from a roof, vault, or ceiling.
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a hanging electrical lighting fixture; chandelier.
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that by which something is suspended, as the ringed stem of a watch.
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a match, parallel, companion, or counterpart.
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Nautical. Also a length of rope attached to a masthead, the end of a yardarm, etc., and having a block or thimble secured to its free end.
adjective
noun
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an ornament that hangs from a piece of jewellery
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a necklace with such an ornament
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a hanging light, esp a chandelier
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a carved ornament that is suspended from a ceiling or roof
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something that matches or complements something else
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Also called: pennant. nautical a length of wire or rope secured at one end to a mast or spar and having a block or other fitting at the lower end
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of pendant
1300–50; Middle English pendaunt < Anglo-French; Middle French pendant, noun use of present participle of pendre to hang < Vulgar Latin *pendere for Latin pendēre. See pend, -ant
Explanation
If you’re wearing a necklace with a large gold heart on a delicate chain, then you have a pendant, an ornament that hangs on a chain. The word pendant traces back to the Latin word, pendere, meaning "to hang," which tips you off that pendant is a word describing something that hangs, like an ornament that hangs on a chain or a type of light that hangs from the ceiling. As an adjective, pendant means "held from above," like the pendant rock formations that hang from the cave's ceiling.
Vocabulary lists containing pendant
Stargirl
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 1
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On the Come Up
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The top lifts off and converts into a pendant.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
Rae said Murrell browsed through their stock and bought a pendant called the Mirrie Dancer Drongs.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
"We were surprised to hear that two policemen were coming up to Shetland to interview us specially about our sale of a gold pendant to Peter Murrell," Rae said.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
For Nancy’s 70th birthday, Debbie bought her friend a necklace with a pendant holding a Shift Lock key from a typewriter.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
A pendant around his throat flickered with light for a moment, and the Uncle smiled.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
She transforms a rainbow of blossoms into hair adornments, earrings, necklace pendants and rings, treating her homegrown organic materials like precious gems.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
The museum also confirmed it lost a bust, brooches, a perfume bottle, two bracelets, comb, hatpin, belt buckle and several necklaces and pendants.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
"We recovered two pendants: one made from a shell and another from a brown bear tooth," said Tornero.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 3, 2026
Creating the world's next big gadget -- whether static, handheld, or wearable like earbuds, pendants and brooches -- is something of a holy grail for AI companies.
From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026
A black feather boa was wrapped around her shoulders, and on her head was a cloche hat that dangled onyx pendants over her plucked eyebrows.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
