Adorn

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Adorn \A*dorn"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Adorned}; p. pr. & vb. n.
     {Adorning}.] [OE. aournen, anournen, adornen, OF. aorner, fr.
     L. aaornare; ad + ornare to furnish, embellish. See {Adore},
     {Ornate}.]
     To deck or dress with ornaments; to embellish; to set off to
     advantage; to render pleasing or attractive.


     [1913 Webster]
  
           As a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. --Isa.
                                                    lxi. 10.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           At church, with meek and unaffected grace,
           His looks adorned the venerable place.   --Goldsmith.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: To deck; decorate; embellish; ornament; beautify; grace;
          dignify; exalt; honor.
  
     Usage: To {Adorn}, {Ornament}, {Decorate}, {Embellish}. We
            decorate and ornament by putting on some adjunct which
            is attractive or beautiful, and which serves to
            heighten the general effect. Thus, a lady's head-dress
            may be ornament or decorated with flowers or jewelry;
            a hall may be decorated or ornament with carving or
            gilding, with wreaths of flowers, or with hangings.
            Ornament is used in a wider sense than decorate. To
            embellish is to beautify or ornament richly, not so
            much by mere additions or details as by modifying the
            thing itself as a whole. It sometimes means gaudy and
            artificial decoration. We embellish a book with rich
            engravings; a style is embellished with rich and
            beautiful imagery; a shopkeeper embellishes his front
            window to attract attention. Adorn is sometimes
            identical with decorate, as when we say, a lady was
            adorned with jewels. In other cases, it seems to imply
            something more. Thus, we speak of a gallery of
            paintings as adorned with the works of some of the
            great masters, or adorned with noble statuary and
            columns. Here decorated and ornamented would hardly be
            appropriate. There is a value in these works of genius
            beyond mere show and ornament. Adorn may be used of
            what is purely moral; as, a character adorned with
            every Christian grace. Here neither decorate, nor
            ornament, nor embellish is proper.
            [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Adorn \A*dorn"\, n.
     Adornment. [Obs.] --Spenser.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Adorn \A*dorn"\, a.
     Adorned; decorated. [Obs.] --Milton.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  adorn
       v 1: make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.;
            "Decorate the room for the party"; "beautify yourself
            for the special day" [syn: {decorate}, {grace}, {ornament},
             {embellish}, {beautify}]
       2: be beautiful to look at; "Flowers adorned the tables
          everywhere" [syn: {deck}, {decorate}, {grace}, {embellish},
           {beautify}]
       3: furnish with power or authority; of kings or emperors [syn:
          {invest}, {clothe}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  70 Moby Thesaurus words for "adorn":
     array, beautify, become one, bedeck, bedizen, bestow honor upon,
     blazon, color, confer distinction on, convolute, dandify, deck,
     deck out, decorate, dignify, distinguish, dizen, doll up, dress,
     dress up, elaborate, embellish, emblazon, embroider, enhance,
     enrich, fancy up, festoon, fig out, fix up, flourish, furbish,
     garnish, gild, glamorize, grace, gussy up, heighten, honor,
     intensify, involve, load with ornament, ornament, overcharge,
     overlay, overload, paint, prank, prank up, preen, prettify,
     pretty up, primp, primp up, prink, prink up, redecorate, redo,
     refurbish, set off, set out, signalize, smarten, smarten up,
     spruce up, titivate, trick out, trick up, trim, varnish