ornament

Etymology

It is first inherited from Middle English urnement, later ournement and ornement,^[2][3][4] borrowed from Anglo-Norman urnement, also ournament, borrowed from Old French ornement,^[5][3][4][6] partly also directly borrowed from Latin ōrnāmentum (“equipment, trappings; ornament”).^[5][7] The form was later remodelled on the Latin word.^[3][4][2] The Latin noun is formed from ōrnō (“to equip, adorn”) and the suffix -mentum,^[5][8][9] and Etymonline relates the verb to ōrdō (“row, rank, order”), the source of order.^[7] The Old French word is recorded from about 1050 and the Anglo-Norman one from 1120–40, already with the senses of decoration and of church furnishings.^[5][10] The same Latin verb is the source of adorn, ornate and suborn.^[11][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

An accessory or adjunct, mainly useful but often also decorative; in the plural, equipment, trappings or attire: urnement, about 1225, in the Ancrene Riwle.^[5][2] Barnhart dates it to probably before 1200,^[2] and Etymonline to about 1200.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The first English sense was close to the Latin "equipment, trappings", something serving mainly for use but also as adornment; it lasted until the 18th century.^[5][7] The plural kept a special use for the furnishings of a church, its vessels and vestments, recorded from about 1384.^[5][4] By the late 14th century, in the Wycliffite Bible, the word meant something added simply to beautify, which had also been a secondary sense in classical Latin.^[5][7] Figurative uses for a quality that confers grace or honour followed in 1531; from 1573 a person was an ornament to his or her time or profession;^[5][7][12] Shakespeare used it for mere outward show in The Merchant of Venice (1600): "The world is still deceived with ornament".^[5][13] In music the word names a grace note (1664), and in printing a decoration used with type (1706).^[5] The verb was formed from the noun in the 17th or 18th century: the OED dates it to 1650,^[5][8] Barnhart and Etymonline to 1720, in Pope's Iliad.^[2][7] It took the place of Middle English ournen, to adorn, from Old French orner.^[7][2]

Timeline

• c. 1225 – urnement, an accessory or adjunct; equipment, attire.^[5][2]
• 1340 – ournement, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt.^[2]
• before 1382 – something that adorns; a decoration.^[5]
• c. 1384 – the furnishings of a church.^[5]
• 1531 – a quality that confers beauty or honour.^[5]
• 1573 – a person who adds distinction to a sphere or time.^[5][7]
• 1600 – outward show (now obsolete).^[5]
• 1650 – verb, to decorate, adorn.^[5][8] Barnhart and Etymonline date the verb to 1720.^[2][7]
• 1664 – in music, a grace note.^[5]
• 1706 – in printing, a decoration used with type.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A thing used to make something more attractive; a decoration: glass ornaments on the shelf.^[14][8][5]
2. Decoration in general, or the act of adorning: The hall was plain, without ornament.^[14][5]
3. A person or quality that adds honour or distinction to something: She was an ornament to her profession.^[14][5]
4. (music) A note or group of notes, such as a trill or mordent, that embellishes a melody.^[14][5]
5. In the plural, the furnishings and vestments used in church worship.^[8][5][4]
6. (obsolete, c. 1225–1747) A useful accessory; equipment or attire.^[5][8][3]

Verb

1. To decorate or adorn something: Carved leaves ornamented the doorway.^[8][5][3]

Word family

• ornamenter
• ornamental
• overornament
• reornament

Related words

• adorn
• ornate
• ornamentation
• suborn
• order

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
11. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
12. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
13. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
14. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins