Etymologically
Log in

ornatus

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Latin word ornatus

ornatus1 equipped, adorned

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
190–159 BC, Terence
Ultimate origin
Latin (ōrdō)

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [oːrˈnaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [orˈnaː.tus][1]

Forms

ōrnātus (feminine ōrnāta, neuter ōrnātum, comparative ōrnātior, superlative ōrnātissimus); first/second-declension adjective[2]

Etymology

The adjective is the past participle of ōrnō (“to equip, adorn”).[2][3][4] That verb comes from ⟨*ōrd-n-āre⟩, a verb made from ōrdō (“row, order”); when the link was no longer felt, ōrdinō was made anew from the noun.[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates the adjective from Terence.[4] Cicero speaks of an army maximus atque ōrnātissimus, “very large and very well equipped”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Ōrnātus is “well equipped, properly arrayed”, and “richly adorned, ornate, magnificent” (Cicero: Syracuse, urbis pulcherrimae atque ōrnātissimae, “a most beautiful and splendid city”).[2][3] With an ablative it is “endowed with” qualities or learning (Varro: litterīs ōrnātissimus, “most accomplished in letters”), and on its own “distinguished, honoured”.[2][1]

Timeline

  • 190–159 BC – Terence uses it.[4][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: urbis pulcherrimae atque ōrnātissimae.[2][5]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro: litterīs ōrnātissimus.[2][5]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Well equipped, properly arrayed.[2]
  2. Richly adorned, ornate, magnificent.[2][3]
  3. Endowed (with qualities or accomplishments).[2]
  4. distinguished, honoured.[2][1]

ornatus2 equipment, adornment

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 250–184 BC, Plautus
Ultimate origin
Latin (ōrdō)
Etymology tree of ornatus2
inherited borrowed derived
Latin orno
Latin ornatus
Latin ornamentum

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [oːrˈnaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [orˈnaː.tus][1]

Forms

ōrnātus m (genitive ōrnātūs); fourth declension[1] Terence has the genitive ōrnātī, and Gaius Caesar the dative ōrnātū.[2][3]

Etymology

The noun is formed from Latin ōrnō + -tus, an action noun of the verb “to equip, adorn”, which goes back to a verb made from ōrdō (“row, order”).[2][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates the noun from Plautus,[4] who uses it of a person's get-up: quās tū rēs hōc ōrnātū gerās, “what you are up to in this outfit”.[2]

Semantic evolution

Ōrnātus is “equipment, arms, dress”, and the preparation of a ceremony or a show.[2][3][1] It is the act of decorating and the decoration itself, of cities and buildings, and in rhetoric the embellishment of a speech, “ornament”.[2][1] It also means the lustre added to an office, “distinction, honour” (Cicero of a statue carried off ad ōrnātum aedīlitātis suae, “to grace his aedileship”).[2]

Church Latin glosses it “adornment, dress, decoration, equipment, furniture”.[6] In Medieval Latin it is also equipment, and church utensils.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus: hōc ōrnātū.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero: ad ōrnātum aedīlitātis suae.[2][5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. equipment, arms; dress, attire.[2][3][1][6]
  2. Preparation (of a ceremony); a show, display.[2]
  3. Decoration, adornment, ornament.[2][1][6]
  4. (rhetoric) Embellishment.[2]
  5. Distinction, honour.[2]
  6. (Medieval Latin) Church utensils.[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Ornatus.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/ornatus. Accessed 19 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·