ornament

(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.

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.]

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noun

Something that adorns: adornment, decoration, embellishment, garnishment, garniture, ornamentation, trim, trimming. See beautiful/ugly.

verb

To furnish with decorations: adorn, bedeck, deck² (out), decorate, dress (up), embellish, garnish, trim. See beautiful/ugly.

Definition: decorate
Antonyms: leave alone

The brief, conventional formulae of embellishment to music, which may be added extemporaneously by performers working within traditions of free ornamentation or may be notated by means of conventional signs or small notes. They have been used in all periods of Western music but proliferated particularly in the late Renaissance, the Baroque and the Classical periods. They divide into two main classes: graces, melodic ornaments applied to individual notes; and divisions or passaggi, where figuration patterns are applied to an existing melody. The use of ornaments was encouraged in particular musical contexts, for example, in Italian monadic singing and (later) Italian opera arias, slow movements in sonatas, in French lute (and later harpsichord and viol) music and in the music of the English virginalists. In some contexts ornaments were often left unnotated or notated only vaguely. In others, more or less precise systems of signs were devised; many composers and theorists, especially towards the end of the Baroque period, presented tables of these signs and their execution (for example Couperin and Bach). But ornament signs were often used in a casual, inconsistent and uncertain manner, partly because performers were anyway often expected to add ornamentation of their own (see Improvisation).

For discussion of individual ornaments and their realization, see under the name of the ornament itself; the following are entered in this dictionary: Anschlag, Acciaccatura, Appoggiatura, Beat, Bebung, Cadent, Chute, Grace notes, Groppo, Messa di voce, Mordent, Nachschlag, Pralltriller, Portamento, Relish, Slide, Springer, Tirade, Trill, Trillo, Turn and Vibrato.

A melodic embellishment, either written or improvised. Types of ornaments included trills, turns, mordents, and grace notes.

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• Decorations, Ornaments, and Symbolic Objects - ornament: any object used to adorn or embellish
• Harmony, Melody, and Structure - ornament: embellishing note not part of basic melody or harmony

Look up ornament in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

An ornament is something used for decoration.

Ornament may also refer to:

• Christmas ornaments, an ornament hung from a Christmas tree
• Ornament (art), purely decorative elements in architecture and the decorative arts
• Ornament (music)
• Ornamental plant
• Biological ornament, a biological structure that appears to serve only a decorative purpose

For ornamentation of the human body see:

• Human physical appearance
• Fashion
• Jewelry
• Body modification
• Tattoo

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - ornament, pynt, smykke
v. tr. - smykke, pryde, dekorere

Nederlands (Dutch)
decoratie, versiering, ornament, versieren, opsmukken, tooien

Français (French)
n. - bibelot, ornement, (Mus) ornement
v. tr. - (gén) orner (de), (Mus) ornementer

Deutsch (German)
n. - Ornament, Verzierung, Schmuckgegenstand, Zierde, Kirchengerät
v. - verzieren

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - κόσμημα, στολίδι
v. - (δια)κοσμώ, στολίζω

Italiano (Italian)
adornare, abbellire, ornare, addobbare, ornamento, addobbo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - ornamento (m)
v. - ornamentar, adornar, ornar

Русский (Russian)
украшать, орнамент

Español (Spanish)
n. - ornamento, adorno
v. tr. - ornamentar, adornar, engalanar

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - ornament, prydnad, ornamentering, utsmyckning
v. - ornamentera, pryda, dekorera

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
装饰, 教堂用品, 修饰

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 裝飾, 教堂用品
v. tr. - 裝飾, 修飾

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 꾸밈, 광채를 더해주는 사람, 장식음
v. tr. - 꾸미다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 装飾, 装飾品, 名誉となるもの, 装飾音
v. - 飾る

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) حليه, زخرف (فعل) يزخرف‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮עיטור, תכשיט, קישוט‬
v. tr. - ‮עיטר, קישט‬

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