English
exornation
Exornation comes from Latin exornatio ‘decoration, embellishment’, from exornō ‘to equip, furnish, supply, provide’, and ultimately from ōrdō ‘a methodical series, arrangement, or order’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEōrdō‘a methodical series, arrangement, or order’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEōrnō‘to furnish, equip, outfit, prepare’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexornōas exornare‘to equip, furnish, supply, provide’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexornatio‘decoration, embellishment’
- Englishearliest quotation 1624exornation
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEōrdō‘a methodical series, arrangement, or order’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEōrnō‘to furnish, equip, outfit, prepare’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexornōas exornare‘to equip, furnish, supply, provide’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEexornatio‘decoration, embellishment’
- Englishearliest quotation 1624exornation
Earliest quotation: 1624, Democritus Junior pseudonym; Robert Burt, The Anatomy of Melancholy: […]: “Hyperbolical exornations […] many much affect.”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- ‘to fit, to fix, to put together, to slot’
order, art, ready, reason, army, rate, article, arm, artist, alarm, harmony, ratio, armor, arthritis, anarchy, articulate, arithmetic, harmonic, artisan, inert, armament, aristocratic, harmonious, armadillo, rta, articulation, harmonize, rime, artifice, armature, archon, inordinate, harmonium, arche, 72 more
through Latin ōrdō ‘a methodical series, arrangement, or order’
ordinary, coordinate, coordination, subordinate, ordination, ordinate, ordinal, ordinator, ordain, ordo, 7 more
through Latin ōrnō ‘to furnish, equip, outfit, prepare’
Today it means
noun ornament; decoration; embellishment (physically, or relating to prose)
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin ōrdō / exornation