▪ I. ornament, n.
(ˈɔːnəmənt)
Forms: 3–4 urnement, (4 vrnment), 4–5 ournement, 4–6 ornement; 5 ournament, 5– ornament.
[a. OF. ournement, ornement, ad. L. ornāment-um equipment, trapping, ornament, f. ornāre: see orn v.]
† 1. a. Any adjunct or accessory (primarily for use, but not excluding decoration or embellishment); equipment, furniture, attire, trappings. Obs.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 302 And makede hire ueir..mid alle þe ueire urnemenz þet bitocneð blisse. 1340 Ayenb. 140 Hy hise agrayþeþ and azet mid alle hire ournemens. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 202 And eek of othere aornementes [v.rr. aournementes, ornamentes] alle That vn-to swich a weddyng sholde falle. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxviii. (1495) 137 The hande is a grete helpe and ornament of the body. 1565–73 Cooper Thesaurus, Aphistre,..the tackling or ornaments of a ship. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. i. 54 The summe of money which I promised..For cloathing me in these graue Ornaments. c 1611 Chapman Iliad xi. 450 A surgeon is to be preferr'd, with physic ornaments, Before a multitude. 16.. R. Johnson Seven Champions ii. iv. (1670) E j, All attired in black and mournful Ornaments. 1682 R. Burton Admir. Curios. (1684) 3 Most of her [England's] other Plenties and Ornaments are expressed in this old verse following. Anglia, Mons, Pons, Fons, Ecclesia, Fœmina, Lana. 1747 Gould Eng. Ants 50 The Head with its Ornaments, and the Legs regularly placed, first make their Appearance. |
b. Eccl. The accessories or furnishings of the Church and its worship: see quot. 1857.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1284 Wyth alle þe vrnmentes of þat hous [the Jewish Temple]. Ibid. 1799 Þe fylþe of þe freke..defowled hade Þe ornementes of goddez hous þat holy were maked. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xi. 43 With many oþer ournementz and clething of Aaron and of þe tabernacle. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xvii. xv, The other held a crosse and the ornementys of an aulter. 1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 49 Thoo thyngys that were necessarye to the ornamentys of alle the chyrche, as yn lyghtys or any othyr thyngys. 1486 Act 3 Hen. VII, c. 9 Chalice, Books, Vestments, and other Ornaments of holy Church. 1559 Act 1 Eliz. c. 2 §25 (Act Uniformitie Com. Praier), That suche ornaments of the Churche, and of the ministers therof, shalbe reteined and be in vse as was in this Churche of England, by aucthority of Parliament, in the second yere of the raygne of Kyng Edward the vi. vntil other order shalbe therin taken. 1565 in Eng. Ch. Furniture (Peacock 1866) 60 Thinventarie of all the popishe ornamentes that remaynid in the Church of Calsterworth at anie tyme sens the deathe of the late Quene Marie. 1857 Decis. Privy Council in Blunt Annot. Prayer-bk. p. lxx, The term ‘ornaments’ in Ecclesiastical law is not confined, as by modern usage, to articles of decoration or embellishment, but it is used in the larger sense of the word ‘ornamentum’... In modern times, Organs and Bells are held to fall under this denomination. |
c. ornaments rubric, the rubric which stands immediately before the Order for Morning and Evening Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer; so called as referring to the ‘ornaments’ to be used in the Church. (Cf. 1559 in b.)
| 1872 Law Rep. Adm. & Eccl. Crts. III. 69 The ornament rubric in the prayer book set forth by authority of the statute. 1888 Gladstone in 19th Cent. Nov. 767 They [Q. Eliz. and Govt.] suffered the ornaments rubric to lie partially dormant, but they kept it in force. |
2. a. Something employed to adorn, beautify, or embellish, or that naturally does this; a decoration, embellishment.
| 1388 Wyclif Judith x. 3 And sche took ournementis [1382 onournemens] of the armes, and lilies..and ournede hir silf with alle hir ournementis. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. vii. (1885) 125 Rich stones..and oþer juels and ornamentes conuenyent to his estate roiall. 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. v. xv. (W. de W.) h j b/2 The berde is the hyghnes and ournament of mannes face. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. i. 29 Or whether that such Cowards ought to weare This Ornament of Knighthood [the garter], yea or no? 1665 Boyle Occas. Refl. iv. iv, The Blossoms are in themselves great Ornaments to a Tree. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 170 ¶3 My mother sold some of her ornaments to dress me in such a manner as might secure me from contempt. 1833 L. Ritchie Wand. by Loire 178 Formerly the châteaux were the ornaments of France. 1851 D. Wilson Preh. Ann. (1863) II. iii. v. 140 Torcs, head-rings, armlets, and other personal ornaments. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 130 Mere narration, when deprived of the ornaments of metre. |
b. fig. A quality or circumstance that confers beauty, grace, or honour.
| 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 4 b, Amonge other ornamentes of the house of Saxony, this was ever propre unto it, greatly to favour Religion. 1611 Bible 1 Pet. iii. 4 The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. |
c. A person who adorns or adds lustre to his sphere, time, etc.
| 1573 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 53 Thos singular men, the late ornaments of Cambridg and the glori of Pembrook Hal. 1595 Spenser Col. Clout 500 She is the ornament of womankind. 1681 Prideaux Lett. (Camden) 110 An ornament to the University. 1774 Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry Diss. ii. (1840) I. p. cxx, A most distinguished ornament of this age was John of Salisbury. 1896 Law Times C. 488/2 Like so many other ornaments of the Scotch Bench and Bar, John Inglis was a son of the manse. |
d. Mus. A grace note; a decorative figure used to embellish a melodic line.
| 1664 J. Playford Introd. Skill of Musick (ed. 4) i. 58 There is made now adayes an indifferent and confused use of those Excellent Graces and Ornaments to the good manner of Singing, which we call Trills, Grapps, [etc.]. c 1779 W. Waring tr. Rousseau's Dict. Mus. 185 Graces in Singing. By this term are called, in the French music, certain turns and shakes in the throat, and other ornaments joined to the notes, which are in such or such a position, according to the rules prescribed by a taste in singing. 1801 Busby Dict. Mus. p. xxx, Of the graces in music... To these ornaments may be added the Slur,..the Staccato. 1885 G. B. Shaw How to become Mus. Critic (1960) 67 Her voice is not yet quite solid, and..she appended a dreadful ‘ornament’ to Hark, those Chimes. 1962 Listener 17 May 885/2 The important indications of Rameau's ornaments were either unnecessarily simplified or omitted, regrettably since ornaments are not optional embellishments in music of this period; they form an integral part of the harmony, frequently devised to prepare or resolve dissonance. 1969 Ibid. 26 June 904/3 The ornaments are not frequent, and only come on emotional words. |
3. a. The action of adorning or fact of being adorned; adornment, embellishment, decoration (lit. or fig.); that in which this is embodied or consists.
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. ii. 39 Courage..Approved oft in perils manifold, Which he atchiev'd to his great ornament. 1611 Tourneur Ath. Trag. i. ii. Wks. 1878 I. 15 Accomplements are more for ornament Then use. 1667 Milton P.L. v. 280 The pair that clad Each shoulder broad, came mantling o're his brest With regal Ornament. 1739 Hume Hum. Nat. (1874) I. Introd. 307 The improvement or ornament of the human mind. 1817 J. Scott Paris Revis. (ed. 4) 245 There was no beauty..either of artful ornament, or natural wildness. 1883 L. F. Day Every-Day Art i, Ornament is the Art of every Day. |
b. Mere adornment; outward show or display.
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iii. ii. 74 So may the outward showes be least themselues: The world is still deceiu'd with ornament. Ibid. 97 Thus ornament is but..The seeming truth which cunning times put on To intrap the wisest. |
▪ II. ornament, v.
(ˌɔːnəˈmɛnt, ˈɔːnəˌmɛnt)
[f. ornament n. Cf. mod.F. (19th c.) ornementer.]
trans. To furnish with ornament, to make ornamental; to adorn, deck, embellish, beautify.
| 1720 Pope Iliad xviii. Observ. 1457 The Divisions, Projections, or Angles of a Roof are left to be ornamented at the Discretion of the Painter. 1740 Dyche & Pardon, Ornament, to set off, beautify, enrich, make handsome. 1758 Blackstone Study of Law in Comm. Introd. i. 26 It will ornament and assist them all. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian i, Some copies from the antique, which ornamented a cabinet of the Vivaldi palace. 1816 Scott Old Mort. xxix, A man, formed to ornament, to enlighten, and to defend his country. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge iii, He had ornamented his hat with a cluster of peacock's feathers. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 332 The fountains..shall be ornamented with plantations and buildings for beauty. |
Hence ornamented ppl. a.
| 1736 Thomson Liberty v. 347 That very Portion, which..might make the smiling Public rear Her ornamented Head. 1769 Junius Lett. xxxi. 141 The ornamented style he has adopted. 1838 Thirlwall Greece xxxvi. IV. 405 The prizes..consisted of ornamented armour and weapons. |