adorn

From Middle English adornen, adournen, from Latin adōrnāre, present active infinitive of adōrnō; from ad +‎ ōrnō (“furnish, embellish”). See adore, ornate. Replaced earlier Middle English aournen (“to adorn”) borrowed from Old French aorner, from the same Latin source.

• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈdɔɹn/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈdɔː(ɹ)n/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)n

adorn (third-person singular simple present adorns, present participle adorning, simple past and past participle adorned)

1. To make more beautiful and attractive; to decorate.

   Synonyms: beautify, bedeck, decorate, deck, grace, ornament, prettify; see also Thesaurus:decorate

   a man adorned with noble statuary and columns

   a character adorned with every Christian grace

   a gallery of paintings was adorned with the works of some of the great masters

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 61:10:

     as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels

   • 1770, [Oliver] Goldsmith, The Deserted Village, a Poem, London: […] W. Griffin, […], →OCLC, page 10:

     At church, with meek and unaffected grace, / His looks adorned the venerable place; / Truth from his lips prevailed with double ſway, / And fools, who came to ſcoff, remained to pray.

   • 1980, Robert M. Jones, editor, Walls and Ceilings, Time-Life Books, →ISBN, page 38:

     Durable, water-resistant and easy to clean, tiles have adorned Persian mosques, Moorish palaces and the parlors of Dutch burgers.

adorn

1. (obsolete) adornment
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     Her brest all naked, as nett yvory
     Without adorne of gold or silver bright

adorn

1. (obsolete) adorned; ornate
   • 1667, John Milton, “(please specify the book number)”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     And to realities yield all her shows:
     Made so adorn for thy delight the more

• Ardon, Daron, Doran, Drona, NORAD, Nador, Nardo, Ronda, and/or, andro, andro-, norad, radon, rando