noun

adornment

uh-DORN-muhnt/əˈdɔːrnmənt/

Something added to make a person or thing more attractive.

A silk ribbon and fabric flowers provide adornment for the straw hat.

A plain straw hat embellished with a clearly attached silk ribbon and small cluster of decorative fabric flowers, making the added adornment the focal point.

Etymology

adLatinto, toward

+ornLatinto prepare, furnish, decorate

+mentOld Frenchact or result

The furnishing-and-decorating sense of ornare underlies this noun. Adornment names both the act of decorating and a thing used for it; the selected meaning focuses on the beautifying addition itself.

In context

SOAS University of London34:47

the overall adornment of his own body so again we have these similarly finished epaulettes bazoo bands and cuffs creating a frame of reflected light around his person

ReSIA – Natasha Morris – The King and I: Qajar Portrait Miniatures

More examples

The room needs no further adornment.
She removes the fragile adornments before washing the costume.
Leaves and berries serve as natural adornments for the table.

Forms

adornment · adornments

adorn verb — To decorate or add beauty to something.

Similar words

ornament: Usually names a particular decorative object or detail.
decoration: Broader; can refer to decorating itself or the resulting objects.