| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| adorn |
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| SYLLABICATION: | a·dorn |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   -dôrn |
| TRANSITIVE VERB: | Inflected forms: a·dorned, a·dorn·ing, a·dorns
1. To lend beauty to: “the pale mimosas that adorned the favorite promenade” (Ronald Firbank). 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, New York Times Book Review January 1, 1995). | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English adornen, from Old French adourner, from Latin ad rn re : ad-, ad- + rnre, to decorate; see ar- in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | a·dorner —NOUN
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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