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adorn

[uh-dawrn]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR adorn ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to decorate or add beauty to, as by ornaments: garlands of flowers adorning their hair.
to make more pleasing, attractive, impressive, etc.; enhance: Piety adorned Abigail's character.

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RELATED WORDS

decorated, embellished, enhanced

Origin of adorn

1325–75; Middle English adornen < Latin adōrnāre, equivalent to ad- ad- + ōrnāre to dress (see ornate); replacing late Middle English aourne < Middle French < Latin
Related formsa·dorn·er, nouna·dorn·ing·ly, adverbnon·a·dorn·er, nounnon·a·dorn·ing, adjectiveo·ver·a·dorn, verb (used with object)o·ver·a·dorned, adjectivepre·a·dorn, verb (used with object)re·a·dorn, verb (used with object)re·a·dorn·ing, adjectiveself-a·dorn·ing, adjectivesu·per·a·dorn, verb (used with object)un·a·dorned, adjectivewell-a·dorned, adjective

Synonyms for adorn

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR adorn ON THESAURUS.COM
1. beautify; deck, bedeck; bedizen, array.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for adorned

Contemporary Examples of adorned

Historical Examples of adorned

British Dictionary definitions for adorned

adorn

verb (tr)

to decorateshe adorned her hair with flowers
to increase the beauty, distinction, etc, of
Derived Formsadornment, noun

Word Origin for adorn

C14: via Old French from Latin adōrnāre, from ōrnāre to furnish, prepare
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for adorned

adorn

v.

late 14c., "to decorate, embellish," also "be an ornament to," from Old French aorner "to order, arrange, dispose, equip; adorn," from Latin adornare "equip, provide, embellish," from ad- "to" (see ad-) + ornare "prepare, furnish, adorn, fit out," from stem of ordo "order" (see order (n.)). The -d- was reinserted by French scribes 14c., in English from late 15c. Related: Adorned; adorning.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper