[adorn] vt [ME, fr. MF adorner, fr. L adornare, fr. ad- + ornare to furnish--more at ornate] (14c) 1: to enhance the appearance of esp. with beautiful objects
2: to enliven or decorate as if with ornaments "people of fashion who ~ed the Court" syn adorn, decorate, ornament, embellish, beautify, deck, garnish mean to enhance the appearance of something by adding something unessential. adorn implies an enhancing by something beautiful in itself "a diamond necklace adorned her neck". decorate suggests relieving plainness or monotony by adding beauty of color or design "decorate a birthday cake". ornament and embellish imply the adding of something extraneous, ornament stressing the heightening or setting off of the original "a white house ornamented with green shutters", embellish often stressing the adding of superfluous or adventitious ornament "embellish a page with floral borders". beautify adds to embellish a suggestion of counterbalancing plainness or ugliness "will beautify the grounds with flower beds". deck implies the addition of something that contributes to gaiety, splendor, or showiness "a house all decked out for Christmas". garnish suggests decorating with a small final touch and is used esp. in referring to the serving of food "an entree garnished with parsley".