Ornate means covered in rich, complicated decoration. An ornate ceiling, ornate carving, ornate and gilded.
It is neutral to admiring of objects and a criticism of prose, where ornate means overdressed. Whether ornament is a virtue or a fault is the oldest argument in architecture and it has swung several times. Note ornament; and that the Latin means equipped or adorned, from ornare.
1adjectiveornateCovered in rich, complicated decoration.
“An ornate mirror with a carved gold frame hung above the fireplace.”
synonyms: elaborate, decorated
ornate is a quality of decoration.
Also accepted in games: elaborate
The Latin is to decorate, the same root that gives ornament. Ornate is covered in them, with no plain space left.
hooks ontoornament
Latin ornatus is the past participle of ornare, to adorn. Ornament and adorn come from the same adorning.
Proto-Indo-European
*h₂er-
Latin
ōrnātus
English, today
ornate
Built from
Latin ōrnātus, perfect passive participle of ōrnō (“to equip, adorn”), see -ate. a doublet of orné.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA