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:
Its pendant is a statue of Thomas Jefferson with the Declaration of Independence, banished from New York’s City Council Chamber in 2021 because of what the exhibition calls “his history as an enslaver.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
The top lifts off and converts into a pendant.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
Sturgeon was seen wearing the pendant necklace on several occasions that summer and in the chamber of the Scottish Parliament.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
Rae said Murrell browsed through their stock and bought a pendant called the Mirrie Dancer Drongs.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
Aru braced herself, her hand flying to the pendant that Monsoon had given her.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
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
According to the company’s website, the business sells precious and semi-precious crystal pendants, carvings and chains.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 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
Hansen will carry four Moon-shaped pendants for his wife and three children, engraved with the phrase "Moon and back" and set with their birthstones.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
“I know you thought the red in our pendants was ugly, but...I wanted to show you that in another light, it could be quite beautiful.”
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
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.
