adorn

American

[uh-dawrn] / əˈdɔrn /

verb (used with object)

to decorate or add beauty to, as by ornaments.

garlands of flowers adorning their hair.

Synonyms:

array, bedizen, bedeck, deck, beautify
to make more pleasing, attractive, impressive, etc.; enhance.

Piety adorned Abigail's character.

adorn British

/ əˈdɔːn /

verb

to decorate

she adorned her hair with flowers
to increase the beauty, distinction, etc, of

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

adorner noun
adorningly adverb
adornment noun
nonadorner noun
nonadorning adjective
overadorn verb (used with object)
preadorn verb (used with object)
readorn verb (used with object)
readorning adjective
self-adorning adjective
superadorn verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of adorn

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English adornen, from Latin adōrnāre, equivalent to ad- ad- + ōrnāre “to dress” ( ornate ); replacing late Middle English aourne, from Middle French, from Latin

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023