ornamental

English

Etymology

ornament +‎ -al

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌɔːnəˈmɛntl/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɔɹnəˈmɛntl/

Adjective

ornamental (comparative more ornamental, superlative most ornamental)

1. Serving as an ornament; having no purpose other than to make more beautiful.

   Synonyms: beautifying, embellishing, decorative

   Some think it most ornamental to wear their bracelets on their wrists; others, about their ankles.

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter I, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volumes (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book IV:

     We shall leave to the reader to determine with what judgment we have chosen the several occasions for inserting those ornamental parts of our work.

   • 1968, Carl Ruhen, The Key Club, Sydney: Scripts, page 20:

     There were ornamental ponds and shrubs clipped into animal shapes, painted concrete gnomes sitting on mushrooms, pink flamingos standing on one leg[.]

2. (of a plant, fish, etc.) Bred for aesthetic or decorative purposes.

   Those pine trees on the lawn are the fastest-growing ornamentals we could find.

Related terms

• ornamentation
• ornamentally

Translations

serving to ornament

• Bulgarian: декоративен (bg) (dekorativen)
• Catalan: ornamental (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 裝飾性的／装饰性的 (zhuāngshìxìng de), 觀賞性的／观赏性的 (guānshǎngxìng de), 觀賞的／观赏的 (guānshǎng de)

• Czech: ornamentální
• Dutch: ornamenteel (nl)
• Finnish: koristeellinen
• French: ornemental (fr)
• Friulian: ornamentâl
• Galician: ornamental (gl)
• German: Zier-, dekorativ (de)
• Hungarian: díszes (hu), ékes (hu)
• Irish: ornáideach, gréagáin
• Italian: ornamentale (it)
• Old English: gefrætwod, glengful
• Polish: ozdobny (pl)
• Portuguese: ornamental (pt)
• Romanian: ornamental (ro)
• Spanish: ornamental (es)

bred for aesthetic or decorative purposes

• Bulgarian: декоративен (bg) (dekorativen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 裝飾性的／装饰性的 (zhuāngshìxìng de), 觀賞性的／观赏性的 (guānshǎngxìng de), 觀賞的／观赏的 (guānshǎng de)

• Dutch: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: koriste-, koristeellinen

Noun

ornamental (plural ornamentals)

1. An ornamental plant.
   • 1991 October 10, Jackson Granholm, “In praise of the tumbleweed”, in News Chronicle, Thousand Oaks, Calif., page B-7, column 3:

     The tumbleweed is a gracious gift from the Russians, having been imported as a favored ornamental from the steppes of central Asia.

Translations

plant serving to ornament

• Bulgarian: декорация (bg) f (dekoracija)
• Catalan: ornamental (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 觀賞植物／观赏植物 (guānshǎng zhíwù)

• Czech: okrasná rostlina f
• Dutch: sier-, sierplant (nl) f
• Finnish: koristeellinen
• French: ornemental (fr) m, ornementale (fr) f
• Galician: ornamental (gl)
• German: Zierpflanze (de) f
• Greek: διακοσμητικό (el) m or n (diakosmitikó), διακοσμητική (el) f (diakosmitikí)
• Ido: ornementala
• Italian: ornamentale (it) m or f
• Japanese: 装飾用
• Russian: орнаментальная (ru) (ornamentalʹnaja)

Catalan

Etymology

From ornament +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ur.nə.mənˈtal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [or.nə.mənˈtal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencian) [oɾ.na.menˈtal]
• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

ornamental m or f (masculine and feminine plural ornamentals)

1. ornamental

Further reading

• “ornamental” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “ornamental”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “ornamental” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “ornamental” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

From ornamento +‎ -al.

Adjective

ornamental m or f (plural ornamentais)

1. ornamental

Further reading

• “ornamental” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Portuguese

Etymology

From ornamento (“ornament”) +‎ -al (“of or relating to”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /oʁ.na.mẽˈtaw/ [oɦ.na.mẽˈtaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /oʁ.na.mẽˈtaw/ [oɦ.na.mẽˈtaʊ̯]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /oɾ.na.mẽˈtaw/ [oɾ.na.mẽˈtaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /oʁ.na.mẽˈtaw/ [oʁ.na.mẽˈtaʊ̯]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /oɻ.na.mẽˈtaw/ [oɻ.na.mẽˈtaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔɾ.nɐ.mẽˈtal/ [ɔɾ.nɐ.mẽˈtaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔɾ.nɐ.mẽˈtal/ [ɔɾ.nɐ.mẽˈtaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ɔɾ.nɐ.mẽˈta.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: or‧na‧men‧tal

Adjective

ornamental m or f (plural ornamentais)

1. ornamental

Derived terms

• ornamentalmente

Further reading

• “ornamental” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French ornemental.

Adjective

ornamental m or n (feminine singular ornamentală, masculine plural ornamentali, feminine and neuter plural ornamentale)

1. ornamental

Declension

Declension of ornamental

		singular			plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine	masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative/ accusative	indefinite	ornamental		ornamentală	ornamentali	ornamentale
	definite	ornamentalul		ornamentala	ornamentalii	ornamentalele
genitive/ dative	indefinite	ornamental		ornamentale	ornamentali	ornamentale
	definite	ornamentalului		ornamentalei	ornamentalilor	ornamentalelor

Spanish

Etymology

From ornamento +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /oɾnamenˈtal/ [oɾ.na.mẽn̪ˈt̪al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: or‧na‧men‧tal

Adjective

ornamental m or f (masculine and feminine plural ornamentales)

1. ornamental

Derived terms

• ornamentalmente

 

Related terms

• ornamentación
• ornamentar

 

Further reading

• “ornamental”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014