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Adorn To   To Adding  Implies Adorned Plainness Beauty

Title Adorn
Text
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
adorn
 \\ə-ˈdȯrn\\ transitive verb
 ETYMOLOGY  Middle English, from Latin adornare, from ad- + ornare to furnish — more at 
ornate
 DATE  14th century
1. to enhance the appearance of especially with beautiful objects
2. to enliven or decorate as if with ornaments
    people of fashion who adorned the Court
Synonyms.
  
adorn
decorate
ornament
embellish
beautify
deck
garnish
 mean to enhance the appearance of something by adding something unessential. 
adorn
 implies an enhancing by something beautiful in itself
      a diamond necklace adorned her neck
  
decorate
 suggests relieving plainness or monotony by adding beauty of color or design
      decorate a birthday cake
  
ornament
 and 
embellish
 imply the adding of something extraneous, 
ornament
 stressing the heightening or setting off of the original
      a white house ornamented with green shutters
  
embellish
 often stressing the adding of superfluous or adventitious ornament
      embellish a page with floral borders
  
beautify
 adds to 
embellish
 a suggestion of counterbalancing plainness or ugliness
      will beautify the grounds with flower beds
  
deck
 implies the addition of something that contributes to gaiety, splendor, or showiness
      a house all decked out for Christmas
  
garnish
 suggests decorating with a small final touch and is used especially in referring to the serving of food
      an entrée garnished with parsley
English Etymology
adorn
  late 14c., from 
O.Fr
http://O.Fr
.
 aourner, from L. adornare "equip, provide, embellish," from ad- "to" + ornare "prepare, furnish, adorn, fit out," from stem of ordo "order" (see order). The -d- was reinserted by French scribes 14c., in English from late 15c. (see ad-).
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7
adorn
adorn E5dC:nNAmE E5dC:rn / verb[VN]
   [often passive] ~ sth / sb (with sth) (formal) to make sth / sb look more attractive by decorating it or them with sth
   装饰;装扮:
   The walls were adorned with paintings. 
   墙上装饰了绘画。 
   The children adorned themselves with flowers. 
   孩子们佩戴着鲜花。 
   Gold rings adorned his fingers. 
   他的手指戴着几枚金戒指。 
  (ironic) Graffiti adorned the walls. 
   这些墙遭到乱画乱涂。 
 adorn·ment noun [U, C] :
   A plain necklace was her only adornment. 
   她身上的饰物就只有一串简单的项链。 
OLT
adorn verb
⇨ decorate
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged
adorn
\əˈdȯ(ə)rn, -ȯ(ə)n\ transitive verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
Etymology: Middle English adornen, from Middle French adorner, from Latin adornare, from ad- + ornare to furnish, embellish — more at 
ornate

1. 
 a. : to make pleasing or attractive
 b. : to add to the pleasantness, attractiveness, splendor, or beauty of
  < a competence … adorned by an unexcelled brilliance of vivid expression — A.H.Johnson >
 c. : to point up, highlight, or set off to advantage the pleasantness, attractiveness, splendor, or beauty of
  < the simplicity with which great composers adorn their works — Warwick Braithwaite >
2. : to decorate with or as if with external ornamentation
 < as a bride adorns herself with her jewels — Isa 61:10 (Revised Standard Version) >
3. : to deck out or dress up especially with a resultant sham splendor
 < garish gin palaces that adorn all the suburbs — S.P.B.Mais >
Synonyms: 
 
decorate
ornament
embellish
beautify
deck
bedeck
garnish
: to 
adorn
 signifies to give a certain attractiveness or beauty to (especially to something already quite attractive) by being associated with, physically or otherwise, or by adding something beautiful to
  < the painters who adorned the Minoan palaces with lovely frescoes — V.G.Childe >
  < her feet, stockingless, and adorned rather than clad in blue-satin slippers — Scott Fitzgerald >
  To 
decorate
, often interchangeable with 
adorn
, generally implies the adding of something of color or interest to relieve plainness or monotony
  < the music was brief, gracefully decorated with trills and curlicues — Time >
  < pathways, decorated with ornamental trees and shrubs — Tom Marvel >
  To 
ornament
 implies a decorating by means of something extraneous, as an adjunct or accessory
  < columns ornament the front entrance — American Guide Series: Maine >
  To 
embellish
, stressing more the act of an agent than an effect, suggests strongly the adding of superfluous or adventitious ornamental elements
  < Gothic cathedrals … embellished, both inside and out, with grinning gargoyles — Lytton Strachey >
  To 
beautify
 is to make relatively beautiful, especially by neutralizing, masking, or transforming a certain plainness or ugliness
  < salt cedars and oleanders have been planted to beautify the highway — American Guide Series: Texas >
  To 
deck
 or 
bedeck
 implies the addition of something which contributes to gaiety, interest, splendor, or sometimes gaudiness
  deck the halls with boughs of holly >
  < he was as fine as any prince, ablaze with jewels, bedecked with yards of snowy lace and fine embroidery — Frank Yerby >
  bedecked with cheap finery >
  To 
garnish
 implies a decorating with something small but bright and attractive as a final touch in preparation for use or service
  < a steak garnished with parsley >
  < the old-fashioned polemical sermon … garnished with quotations in Greek — Van Wyck Brooks >

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