English → Latin
“ornament” in Latin
ōrnāmentumequipment, apparatus, furniture; decoration, ornament, embellishment; adornment, (plural) regaliadecushonor, distinction, glory; pride, dignity; grace, splendor, ornament, beautylūmenlight, source of light; the eyes; daylightHortēnsiusof or pertaining to the gens Hortensia.dīcōto say, talk, speak, utter, mention; to declare, state; to tellōrātiōspeech, discourse, language; the power of speech; manner or style of speakingōrnōto 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 decorate
The English word ornament itself goes back to Latin ōrnō, through ornamentum.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
ornament s.
PROP., ornamentum. decus: (The words are found in this connection and order.) decus et ornamentum: the ornaments of temples, decora et ornamenta fanorum.
Figuratively, decus; lumen. (The words are found in this connection and order.) decus et lumen. Pompey the ornament of the empire, Pompeius decus imperii: Hortensius, the ornament of the state, Hortensius lumen et ornamentum reipublicae. Rhetorical ornament, dicendi, orationis, cultus or ornatus; dicendi, orationis, or verborum lumina; quasi verborum sententiarumque insignia. ☞ Fucus, pigmenta orationis, when excessive or out of taste.
ornament v.
ornare; decorare; exornare; distinguere. (The words are found in this connection and order.) distinguere et ornare. SYN. in ADORN.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for ornament?
- The usual Latin words for “ornament” are ōrnāmentum, decus, lūmen; also Hortēnsius, dīcō, ōrātiō. 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.