adorn

Where does the word "adorn" come from? It comes from Latin ornare, passing through Latin and Old French before entering English (1300s).

Adorn’s story begins in Latin: ornare meant “to equip, to embellish.” To equip, to embellish, combined with ad- (to). Within Latin, it grew into adornare by ancient. To equip fully, to decorate, from ad- and ornare. From there it passed into Old French as aorner by medieval. Carried into French for decorating something to make it more beautiful. It reached English by 1300s as adorn. Settled as the English word for decorating something to make it more attractive. Today, adorn means to decorate or add something to make a person or thing more attractive.

1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient ornare "to equip, to embellish", to equip, to embellish, combined with ad- (to).
2. Stage 2 · Latin · ancient adornare "to equip fully, to decorate", to equip fully, to decorate, from ad- and ornare.
3. Stage 3 · Old French · medieval aorner "to decorate something to make it more beautiful", carried into French for decorating something to make it more beautiful.
4. Stage 4 · English · 1300s adorn "to decorate something to make it more attractive", settled as the English word for decorating something to make it more attractive.