ornament

noun

1. 1

   An element of decoration; that which embellishes or adorns.

   Dust are our frames; and, gilded dust, our pride / Looks only for a moment whole and sound; / Like that long-buried body of the king / Found lying with his urns and ornaments, / Which at a touch of light, an air of heaven, / Slipt into ashes and was found no more.

   I'm a bit short on brain myself; the old bean would appear to have been constructed more for ornament than for use.

   Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.

2. 2

   An element of decoration; that which embellishes or adorns. Christmas ornament: a Christmas tree decoration.

3. 3

   A musical flourish that is unnecessary to the overall melodic or harmonic line, but serves to decorate that line.

4. 4

   The articles used in church services.

5. 5

   A characteristic that has a decorative function (typically in order to attract a mate)

verb

1. 1

   To decorate.

   We will ornament the windows with trim to make the room seem brighter.

   After this, perhaps, the next most imposing structure in Liverpool is the railway station; it is built of stone, richly ornamented with thirty-six columns of the Corinthian order.

2. 2

   To add to.

   The editor ornamented his plain writing, making it fancier but less clear.

   Not a scene goes by that hasn't been ornamented with a split screen, a freeze frame, a caption, a voice-over, a switch between monochrome and colour, or a change of the aspect radio^([sic – meaning ratio]).

Forms

plural

ornaments

past tense

ornamented

past participle

ornamented

present participle

ornamenting

third person singular

ornaments