decoration

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin decorātiō,^[2][3][4] a noun of action formed on the past participle of decorō (“to decorate, adorn”),^[5][6][2] which comes from decus (“ornament, grace, honour”), from Proto-Indo-European *dek- (“to take, accept”).^[5] The OED and Merriam-Webster allow that it may also have come through Middle French décoration, recorded in French from 1393.^[2][7][8] Etymonline gives the Latin source as Medieval Latin.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In surgery, the covering of blemishes with cosmetics, making the face fair: ?a1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's Grande Chirurgie.^[9][5]

Semantic evolution

The general sense, the action of adorning or embellishing something, is recorded from 1584, in King James VI's Essayes of a Prentise; the OED dates the word from that use, and Merriam-Webster gives 1585.^[2][7] By a1678, in Marvell, a decoration could be the thing that adorns, especially an ornament put up for an occasion, while decorations, from 1887, are flags and wreaths put up for a festival.^[2][5] Johnson (1755) defined it as ornament, embellishment, added beauty.^[10] From 1815 it is also a star, cross or medal worn as a mark of honour,^[2][5] and in the United States Decoration Day, when the graves of the Union dead of the Civil War were decorated with flowers, was an old name for Memorial Day by 1870.^[5] In fireworks, from 1873, the decoration is the charge in the head of a rocket that makes the display.^[2]

Timeline

• ?a1425 – decoracioun, the covering of blemishes with cosmetics.^[9][5]
• 1584 – the action of decorating or adorning.^[2][11]
• 1633 – the quality of being ornate (obsolete).^[2]
• a1678 – a thing that decorates, an ornament.^[2]
• 1815 – a medal or badge worn as a mark of honour.^[2][5]
• 1838 – the state of being decorated.^[2]
• 1870 – Decoration Day in the United States.^[5]
• 1887 – decorations, flags and wreaths put up for a celebration.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The act, process or art of decorating something: The decoration of the hall took all afternoon.
2. Something used to decorate, an ornament, especially one put up for a special occasion: birthday decorations.
3. A medal, badge or similar emblem given as an honour.
4. (pyrotechnics) The charge in the head of a rocket that produces the display.

Word family

• nondecoration
• overdecoration
• redecoration
• interior decoration

Related words

• decorate
• decor
• decorum
• decorous
• decent

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)