or·na·ment

(ôr′nə-mənt)

1. Something that decorates or adorns; an embellishment.

2. A person considered as a source of pride, honor, or credit: a singer who is an ornament to the world of opera.

3. Music A note or group of notes that embellishes a melody.

tr.v. (-mĕnt′) or·na·ment·ed, or·na·ment·ing, or·na·ments

1. To furnish with ornaments: ornamented the windows with hanging plants.

2. To be an ornament to: "The babies ornament her ankles, dangle from her pant legs" (Carolyn Chute).

[Middle English ournement, from Old French ornement, from Latin ōrnāmentum, from ōrnāre, to adorn; see ar- in Indo-European roots.]

or′na·ment′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ornamenter

(ˌɔːnəˈmɛntə) or

ornamentist

a person who adorns or decorates

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

References in periodicals archive

Some of the ornamenters worked in such a way that the principal notes of Corelli's melody are still readily perceptible, no matter how many fast, light notes may intervene; other ornamenters have nearly smothered Corelli's melodies, although the structural notes can usually still be spotted.

Ornaments for Corelli's violin sonatas, op. 5

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