adorn : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: adorn	by the DICT Development Group
4 results for adorn
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
adorn v make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.; "Decorate the room for the party"; "beautify yourself for the special day" Synonym(s): decorate, adorn, grace, ornament, embellish, beautify be beautiful to look at; "Flowers adorned the tables everywhere" Synonym(s): deck, adorn, decorate, grace, embellish, beautify furnish with power or authority; of kings or emperors Synonym(s): invest, clothe, adorn
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Adorn \Adorn"\, 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. As a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. --Isa. lxi. 10. At church, with meek and unaffected grace, His looks adorned the venerable place. --Goldsmith. 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.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Adorn \A*dorn"\, n. Adornment. [Obs.] --Spenser.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Adorn \A*dorn"\, a. Adorned; decorated. [Obs.] --Milton.