decoration vs design

decoration

noun
  • Any item that adorns, enriches, or beautifies; something added by way of embellishment or ornamentation. 

  • Specifically, any mark of honor to be worn upon the person, as a medal, cross, or ribbon of an order of knighthood, bestowed for services in war, great achievements in literature, art, etc. 

  • The use of exotic sugars as decoys to distract the immune system of a host 

  • The act of adorning, embellishing, or honoring; ornamentation. 

design

noun
  • The shape or appearance given to an object, especially one that is intended to make it more attractive. 

  • A plan (with more or less detail) for the structure and functions of an artifact, building or system. 

  • A pattern, as an element of a work of art or architecture. 

  • The art of designing 

  • The composition of a work of art. 

  • Malicious or malevolent intention. 

  • A specification of an object or process, referring to requirements to be satisfied and thus conditions to be met for them to solve a problem. 

  • Intention or plot. 

verb
  • To plan and carry out (a picture, work of art, construction etc.). 

  • To manifest requirements to be satisfied by an object or process for them to solve a problem. 

How often have the words decoration and design occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )