adorn

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a·dorn

(ə-dôrn′)

tr.v. a·dorned, a·dorn·ing, a·dorns

1. To lend beauty to: flowers adorned the walkway.

2. To enhance or decorate with or as if with ornaments: "[He] requires the presence of titles to legitimate and adorn ... his imperfect status" (Cynthia Ozick).

[Middle English adornen, from Old French adourner, from Latin adōrnāre : ad-, ad- + ōrnāre, to decorate; see ar- in Indo-European roots.]

a·dorn′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

adorn

(əˈdɔːn)

vb (tr)

1. to decorate: she adorned her hair with flowers.

2. to increase the beauty, distinction, etc, of

[C14: via Old French from Latin adōrnāre, from ōrnāre to furnish, prepare]

aˈdornment n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

a•dorn

(əˈdɔrn)

v.t.

1. to decorate or add beauty to, as by ornaments.

2. to make more pleasing, attractive, impressive, etc.; enhance.

[1325–75; Middle English < Latin adōrnāre=ad- ad- + ōrnāre to dress (see ornate)]

a•dorn′er, n.

a•dorn′ing•ly, adv.

adorn

Past participle: adorned
Gerund: adorning

Imperative
adorn
adorn

Present
I adorn
you adorn
he/she/it adorns
we adorn
you adorn
they adorn

Preterite
I adorned
you adorned
he/she/it adorned
we adorned
you adorned
they adorned

Present Continuous
I am adorning
you are adorning
he/she/it is adorning
we are adorning
you are adorning
they are adorning

Present Perfect
I have adorned
you have adorned
he/she/it has adorned
we have adorned
you have adorned
they have adorned

Past Continuous
I was adorning
you were adorning
he/she/it was adorning
we were adorning
you were adorning
they were adorning

Past Perfect
I had adorned
you had adorned
he/she/it had adorned
we had adorned
you had adorned
they had adorned

Future
I will adorn
you will adorn
he/she/it will adorn
we will adorn
you will adorn
they will adorn

Future Perfect
I will have adorned
you will have adorned
he/she/it will have adorned
we will have adorned
you will have adorned
they will have adorned

Future Continuous
I will be adorning
you will be adorning
he/she/it will be adorning
we will be adorning
you will be adorning
they will be adorning

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been adorning
you have been adorning
he/she/it has been adorning
we have been adorning
you have been adorning
they have been adorning

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been adorning
you will have been adorning
he/she/it will have been adorning
we will have been adorning
you will have been adorning
they will have been adorning

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been adorning
you had been adorning
he/she/it had been adorning
we had been adorning
you had been adorning
they had been adorning

Conditional
I would adorn
you would adorn
he/she/it would adorn
we would adorn
you would adorn
they would adorn

Past Conditional
I would have adorned
you would have adorned
he/she/it would have adorned
we would have adorned
you would have adorned
they would have adorned

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Verb	1.	adorn - make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.; "Decorate the room for the party"; "beautify yourself for the special day" decorate, grace, ornament, embellish, beautify alter, change, modify - cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; "The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city"; "The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue" wreathe - decorate or deck with wreaths; "wreathe the grave site" incrust, encrust, beset - decorate or cover lavishly (as with gems) braid - decorate with braids or ribbons; "braid a collar" broider, embroider - decorate with needlework stick - cover and decorate with objects that pierce the surface; "stick some feathers in the turkey before you serve it" illustrate - supply with illustrations; "illustrate a book with drawings" garland - adorn with bands of flowers or leaves; "They garlanded the statue" fledge, flight - decorate with feathers; "fledge an arrow" bespangle, spangle - decorate with spangles; "the star-spangled banner" foliate - decorate with leaves flag - decorate with flags; "the building was flagged for the holiday" bard, barde, caparison, dress up - put a caparison on; "caparison the horses for the festive occasion" bead - decorate by sewing beads onto; "bead the wedding gown" pipe - trim with piping; "pipe the skirt" applique - sew on as a decoration gild the lily, paint the lily - adorn unnecessarily (something that is already beautiful) vermiculate - decorate with wavy or winding lines smock - embellish by sewing in straight lines crossing each other diagonally; "The folk dancers wore smocked shirts" hang - decorate or furnish with something suspended; "Hang wallpaper" prank - dress or decorate showily or gaudily; "Roses were pranking the lawn" tinsel - adorn with tinsel; "snow flakes tinseled the trees" tart up - decorate in a cheap and flashy way; "the small-town bar was all tarted up" stucco - decorate with stucco work; "stuccoed ceilings" redecorate - redo the decoration of an apartment or house panel - decorate with panels; "panel the walls with wood" bejewel, jewel - adorn or decorate with precious stones; "jeweled dresses" filet, fillet - decorate with a lace of geometric designs scallop - decorate an edge with scallops; "the dress had a scalloped skirt" bedizen - decorate tastelessly dress ship - decorate a ship with flags garnish, trim, dress - decorate (food), as with parsley or other ornamental foods trim - decorate, as with ornaments; "trim the christmas tree"; "trim a shop window" bedeck, bedight, deck - decorate; "deck the halls with holly" festoon - decorate with strings of flowers; "The public buildings were festooned for the holiday" enamel - coat, inlay, or surface with enamel inlay - decorate the surface of by inserting wood, stone, and metal lacquer - coat with lacquer; "A lacquered box from China" begild, engild, gild - decorate with, or as if with, gold leaf or liquid gold illuminate - add embellishments and paintings to (medieval manuscripts) blazon, emblazon - decorate with heraldic arms emblazon, colour, color - decorate with colors; "color the walls with paint in warm tones" fringe - adorn with a fringe; "The weaver fringed the scarf" fret - decorate with an interlaced design landscape - embellish with plants; "Let's landscape the yard" ornament - be an ornament to; "stars ornamented the Christmas tree"
	2.	adorn - be beautiful to look at; "Flowers adorned the tables everywhere" deck, decorate, embellish, grace, beautify be - have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer" ornament - be an ornament to; "stars ornamented the Christmas tree"
	3.	adorn - furnish with power or authority; of kings or emperors clothe, invest equip, fit out, outfit, fit - provide with (something) usually for a specific purpose; "The expedition was equipped with proper clothing, food, and other necessities"

adorn

verb decorate, enhance, deck, trim, grace, array, enrich, garnish, ornament, embellish, emblazon, festoon, bedeck, beautify, engarland Several oil paintings adorn the walls.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

adorn

verb

1. To furnish with decorations:

bedeck, deck (out), decorate, dress (up), embellish, garnish, ornament, trim.

2. To endow with beauty and elegance by way of a notable addition:

beautify, embellish, enhance, grace, set off.

Translations

يُزَيِّن

zdobit

prydepyntesmykke

schmücken

στολίζω

orner pareradornerdécorer

skreyta

adornare ornare parare addobbare

papuošalaspuošti

greznotizgreznotrotāt

pryde pynte smykke

adornar ornar

красить украшать

krášliť

süslemek

装饰

adorn

[əˈdɔːn] VT → adornar, embellecer

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

adorn

[əˈdɔː^rn] vt → orner
adorned with → orné(e) de

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

adorn

vt → schmücken, zieren (geh); to adorn oneself → sich schmücken

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

adorn

[əˈdɔːn] vt (liter) → abbellire, ornare

adorn

(əˈdoːn) verb

to make beautiful, with decorations etc. Their house is adorned with beautiful antique ornaments.

aˈdornment noun

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

Poetry, gentle sir, is, as I take it, like a tender young maiden of supreme beauty, to array, bedeck, and adorn whom is the task of several other maidens, who are all the rest of the sciences; and she must avail herself of the help of all, and all derive their lustre from her.

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The Bowers appeared to know it, and one and another whispered as she passed, "Adorn thyself with me, thou beautiful child, adorn thyself with me!" -- and, to please them, Pearl gathered the violets, and anemones, and columbines, and some twigs of the freshest green, which the old trees held down before her eyes.

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In my Mind, every Virtue that could adorn it was centered; it was the Rendez-vous of every good Quality and of every noble sentiment.

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Then her desire had been to adorn herself with something, and the more adorned the better.

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Stevens is an agreeable writer, and, as is the case with men of talent, his gifts adorn his sterling soundness.

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Thou canst not adorn thyself fine enough for thy friend; for thou shalt be unto him an arrow and a longing for the Superman.

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At this time, however, it happened to be the fashion for ladies to adorn their drawing-rooms with the oldest and oddest chairs that could be found.

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On the right of this valley opened another of less extent, adorned with several villages, and terminated by one of the towers of an old ruined abby, grown over with ivy, and part of the front, which remained still entire.

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It has a massive portico and steps, before it, heavily balustraded, and adorned with life-sized rusty iron knights in complete armor.

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THE CAMEL, when he saw the Bull adorned with horns, envied him and wished that he himself could obtain the same honors.

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They clothed her with heavenly garments: on her head they put a fine, well-wrought crown of gold, and in her pierced ears they hung ornaments of orichalc and precious gold, and adorned her with golden necklaces over her soft neck and snow-white breasts, jewels which the gold- filleted Hours wear themselves whenever they go to their father's house to join the lovely dances of the gods.

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Thus it will be a double glory for him to have established a new principality, and adorned and strengthened it with good laws, good arms, good allies, and with a good example; so will it be a double disgrace to him who, born a prince, shall lose his state by want of wisdom.