English → Latin
“adorn” in Latin
ōrnōto furnish, equip, outfit, prepare; to adorn, ornament, decorate; to honor, commend, praisedecorōto decorate, adorn, embellish, grace, beautify; to honourexōrnōto equip, furnish, supply, provide; to adorn, embellishdistinguōto distinguish; to separate, divide or part; to adorn or decoratecōmōto bring together, form, frame, construct, arrange; to take care of, care for; comb, dress; braid; to adorn, deck, dressdecushonor, distinction, glory; pride, dignity; grace, splendor, ornament, beauty
The English word adorn itself goes back to Latin ōrnō, through adōrnō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
adorn
ornare (general term): decorate (opposed to what is ordinary or unseemly: ornare, opposed to what is paltryand incomplete. Dig.): exornare (to dress or deck out: also of adorning a speech): distinguere (to relieve, by ornaments placed here and there: also of a speech): comere (to dress, i. e., arrange ornamentally; e.g., the head, hair: also, figuratively, a speech). With anything, ornare, exornare, distinguere, or distinguere et ornare (see before), aliqua re; excolere aliqua re, or ornatu alicujus rei (to embellish with), e.g., the walls with marbles, parietes marmoribus; a roam with pictures, cubiculum tabolarum pictarum ornatu. To adorn one’s self, se exornare (to dress myself out). The heaven adorned with stars, caelum astris distinctum et omatum.
Be an ornament to, decori, ornamento esse: decus afferre (all alicui or alicui rei).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for adorn?
- The usual Latin words for “adorn” are ōrnō, decorō, exōrnō; also distinguō, cōmō, decus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.