English → Latin
“decorate” in Latin
ōrnōto furnish, equip, outfit, prepare; to adorn, ornament, decorate; to honor, commend, praiseexōrnōto equip, furnish, supply, provide; to adorn, embellishdecushonor, distinction, glory; pride, dignity; grace, splendor, ornament, beautyvestiōto clothe, dress; to adorn, attire, deck; to cover, blanket
The English word decorate itself goes back to Latin decus, through decorātus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
decorate
ornare; exornare: decori or ornamento esse: decus afferre (all three applicable to persons or things, alicui or alicui rei): to decorate with anything, ornare or exornare aliquid re: vestire (clothe or cover; e.g., walls): to decorate the walls of a room with pictures, tabulis cubiculi parietes vestire; cubiculum tabellis picturarum adornare; with garlands, sertis redimire et rosa; sertis velare (quite cover it; e.g., a house). Vid. ORNAMENT, v.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for decorate?
- The usual Latin words for “decorate” are ōrnō, exōrnō, decus; also vestiō. 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.