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decorator

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Etymology and origin of the English word decorator

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1755 Johnson's Dictionary More words from the 18th century
Ultimate origin
Latin decus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
English decorate
English decorator
From the same root
English decorative ← decorate

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈdɛkəˌɹeɪtə(ɹ)/[1]
  • US: /ˈdɛkəˌɹeɪtɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English decorate + -or,[2][3][4] as an agent noun from Latin decorō (“to adorn, beautify”), in Latin form,[5][6] which is from decus (“grace, honour, ornament”),[5][6][7] from Proto-Indo-European *dek- (“to take, accept”).[6][7] French had décorateur from about 1600.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

One who decorates, an adorner or embellisher: the OED's first record is Johnson's Dictionary of 1755.[5][8] Etymonline dates the word to 1700, for one whose business is decorating houses and public buildings.[6]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined it simply as an adorner or embellisher.[8] The OED's sense included early on the professional decoration of buildings with ornamental painting, plaster-work and gilding.[5] In British usage it now usually means a tradesman who paints and wallpapers buildings, often in the phrase painter and decorator,[9][2] while decorator or interior decorator is also used, especially in American English, for someone who plans the interiors of rooms and their furnishings.[3][9] Merriam-Webster also records the noun used before another noun for colours and fabrics suited to interior decoration, from 1950.[3]

Timeline

  • 1755 – one who decorates, especially one who decorates buildings professionally.[5][3] Etymonline dates the professional sense to 1700.[6]
  • 1950 – used attributively, of colours, fabrics and the like suited to interior decoration.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A person who decorates something.[3][9]
  2. (chiefly British) A person whose trade is painting and wallpapering rooms and buildings: The decorator hung the new paper in the hall.[9][2][3]
  3. An interior decorator, who plans and carries out the design of rooms and their furnishings.[3][9]
  4. A person who paints, stencils or carves decorations on objects such as furniture, glassware or stone.[3]

Adjective

  1. Suited to a colour scheme or style of interior decoration: decorator fabrics.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  5. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  9. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
Cite this entry

“Decorator.” Etymologically, 8 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/decorator. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

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