adorn
[uh-dawrn]
- 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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Origin of adorn
Synonyms
See more synonyms for adorn on Thesaurus.com1. beautify; deck, bedeck; bedizen, array.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for adorned
Contemporary Examples
Missy, 37, is a petite, bespectacled gal with a green pixie cut, and her arms are adorned with tattoos.
Masters of Alt Sex: SuicideGirls Hits Puberty and Wants to Invade Your TV SetMarlow Stern
December 9, 2014
In return we lent the hospitable Post our halftones, and they adorned its first city edition next morning.
Fans will doubtless flock to Austin to see that dress and two others that adorned Vivien Leigh.
Finally, we came to the ornately carved temple portal itself, adorned with an image of a snake to its side.
The adorned temple of Haldi was described as having multiple gates, where large numbers of animals were sacrificed.
Iraq’s Long-Lost Mythical Temple Has Been Found…and Is In Danger of Disappearing AgainNina Strochlic
July 24, 2014
Historical Examples
It was built of gold and silver, and adorned with pearls and precious stones.
The Chinese Fairy BookVarious
Suddenly the whole face of it was adorned with a verdant, undulating robe.
ImogenWilliam Godwin
The Gallic chieftains were adorned with gold necklaces, bracelets, and rings.
Introductory American HistoryHenry Eldridge Bourne
All along the walls were numerous prayer-barrels, adorned with ribbons.
The Unknown Life of Jesus ChristNicolas Notovitch
The stem is equal, stuffed, adorned often with pits of a darker color.
The Mushroom, Edible and OtherwiseM. E. Hard
adorn
- to decorateshe adorned her hair with flowers
- to increase the beauty, distinction, etc, of
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Word Origin
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
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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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper