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ornamental

UK/ˌɔː.nəˈmɛn.təl/US/ˌɔɹ.nəˈmɛn.təl/
adjectiveC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #13,100 of 15,258mostly written

Ornamental means put there for decoration rather than for use. An ornamental pond, ornamental grasses, purely ornamental.

Calling somebody's role ornamental is a real insult, since it says they have no function. In gardening it is neutral and simply distinguishes plants grown for looks from those grown to eat.

Definitions of ornamental

  1. 1adjectiveornamentalPut there for decoration rather than for use.C1

    “The garden has an ornamental pond with a small stone fountain.”

ornamental is a quality.

Where it comes from

  1. Proto-Indo-European

    *h₂er-

  2. Latin

    ornamentum — equipment, apparatus, furniture, trappings, adornment, embellishment

  3. Old French

    ornement

  4. Middle English

    ornament

  5. English

    ornament

  6. English, today

    ornamental

Built from

  • ornō · Latin — to equip, adorn

From ornament + -al. ornament comes from Middle English ornament, from Old French ornement, from Latin ornamentum (“equipment, apparatus, furniture, trappings, adornment, embellishment”), from ornō (“to equip, adorn”). The verb is derived from the noun.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

ornamental in the wild

  • Koi is an informal name for the colored variants of carp kept for ornamental purposes.

    Koi

  • There are many varieties of ornamental koi, originating from breeding that began in Niigata, Japan, in the early 19th century.

    Koi

  • At first, only plants for sustenance were grown and maintained, but as humanity became increasingly sedentary, plants were grown for their ornamental value.

    Horticulture

  • But "ornamental plant" is not a category recognised in scientific botany as many garden plants are of the original species, not altered by plant breeding.

    Ornamental plant

  • There are many examples of fine ornamental plants that can provide height, privacy, and beauty for any garden.

    Ornamental plant

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

From Project Gutenberg, public domain. These sentences are from real books, shown to illustrate the word at work.

Related words

the ornō family

ornamentornate

ornamental — used about once every 18,318 pages · #13,100 · point at the bar for the others