Ornatus

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A decorative or ornamental element often used in art and architecture
2. An enriched condition or embellishment that enhances aesthetic appeal
3. A term referring to elaborate adornments in literature, music, or visual arts

Etymology: "Ornatus" is the Latin past participle of "ornare," "to equip, adorn, or furnish," and it carried that sense of being fitted out with decoration. Its root is "ordo," "order" or "row," so the underlying idea is arranging something into a proper, fitting state. Ancient writers used it of dress, speech and rhetoric alike, and the Roman orator Cicero applied it to a style of speaking rich in figures of speech. English took the word directly from Latin in the form "ornate," which entered the language as a learned borrowing. In English it has kept the same core meaning: something decorated with much detail and elaborate design, whether a building, a costume or a piece of prose.

Synonyms: decorated, adorned, embellished, ornamented, festooned

Antonyms: plain, simple, bare, unadorned, austere