Meaning of Ornament | Babel Free

Definitions

1. An element of decoration; that which embellishes or adorns.
   countable, uncountable
2. Ellipsis of Christmas ornament; a Christmas tree decoration.
   abbreviation, alt-of, broadly, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
3. A musical flourish that is unnecessary to the overall melodic or harmonic line, but serves to decorate that line.
   countable, uncountable
4. The articles used in church services.
   countable, in-plural, uncountable
5. A characteristic that has a decorative function (typically in order to attract a mate)
   countable, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“Dust are our frames; and, gilded dust, our pride / Looks only for a moment whole and sound; / Like that long-buried body of the king / Found lying with his urns and ornaments, / Which at a touch of light, an air of heaven, / Slipt into ashes and was found no more.”

“I'm a bit short on brain myself; the old bean would appear to have been constructed more for ornament than for use.”

“Drawings and pictures are more than mere ornaments in scientific discourse. Blackboard sketches, geological maps, diagrams of molecular structure, astronomical photographs, MRI images, the many varieties of statistical charts and graphs: These pictorial devices are indispensable tools for presenting evidence, for explaining a theory, for telling a story.”

CEFR level