# decoration

Pronunciation: say "dek-uh-RAY-shuhn" /ˌdɛkəˈɹeɪʃən/

## Noun

1. Something added to a thing or place to make it more attractive; an ornament or embellishment.
   - Simple: Something added to a place or object to make it look nicer.
   - _A small glass decoration hung from the rearview mirror._
   - _The hall was filled with festive decorations for the holiday._
2. The adding of ornaments or embellishments to make something more attractive, or the act of honoring someone with an award.
   - Simple: The act of making something look nice by adding pretty things.
   - _The decoration of the banquet hall took the whole team three days._
   - _She spent the afternoon on decoration, adding ribbons and string lights._
3. A medal, cross, or ribbon awarded as a mark of honor for services in war or for great achievements in fields such as literature or art.
   - Simple: A medal, ribbon, or badge given to honor someone for brave or great deeds.
   - _The general pinned a decoration onto the young officer's uniform._
   - _His decorations from the war filled an entire display case._
4. The refurbishing or renovating of a room or building. *(Hong Kong)*
   - Simple: The work of fixing up a room or building to make it look new again.
   - _The old apartment required complete decoration before anyone could move in._
   - _Decoration of the offices is scheduled to begin next month._
5. The use of exotic sugars as decoys to distract or evade the immune system of a host organism.
   - Simple: A trick used by some germs that cover themselves in unusual sugars to fool the body's defenses.
   - _The parasite's decoration with exotic sugars let it evade detection by immune cells._
   - _Researchers found that decoration plays a key role in how the microbe escapes the host response._

## Origin

This word comes from Latin decoratio, compared with French décoration. It is formed from 'decorate' plus the suffix '-ion'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/decoration (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).