arabesque
[ar-uh-besk]
- Fine Arts. a sinuous, spiraling, undulating, or serpentine line or linear motif.
- a pose in ballet in which the dancer stands on one leg with one arm extended in front and the other leg and arm extended behind.
- a short, fanciful musical piece, typically for piano.
- any ornament or ornamental object, as a rug or mosaic, in which flowers, foliage, fruits, vases, animals, and figures are represented in a fancifully combined pattern.
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- decorated with or characterized by arabesques: arabesque design.
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Origin of arabesque
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
colorwreathornamenttrinketfinerydesignribbonplaquelacedecorationtapestrybrocadeneedlepointquiltinggarbagespangledoodadextravagancefiligreeflounceExamples from the Web for arabesque
Contemporary Examples
Arabesque focuses on Turkey, Morocco and Lebanon, with the added bonus of a beautiful design and great photos.
Historical Examples
When all was ready, he drew some arabesque forms with his pencil on the board.
Put Yourself in His PlaceCharles Reade
A "Schumannesque" is written closely on the lines of Schumann's "Arabesque."
Contemporary American ComposersRupert Hughes
There were arabesque figures with unsuited limbs and appointments.
The Works of Edgar Allan PoeEdgar Allan Poe
The ceiling and walls were rich with tessellated and arabesque work.
The Pirate CityR.M. Ballantyne
His sketches of life are arabesque in their strange combinations.
Mark TwainArchibald Henderson
arabesque
- ballet a classical position in which the dancer has one leg raised behind and both arms stretched out in one of several conventional poses
- music a piece or movement with a highly ornamented or decorated melody
- arts
- a type of curvilinear decoration in painting, metalwork, etc, with intricate intertwining leaf, flower, animal, or geometrical designs
- a design of flowing lines
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- designating, of, or decorated in this style
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Word Origin
C18: from French, from Italian arabesco in the Arabic style
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for arabesque
n.
1610s, "Moorish or Arabic ornamental design," from French arabesque (16c.), from Italian arabesco, from Arabo "Arab," with reference to Moorish architecture. As a ballet pose, first attested 1830. Musical sense, in reference to an ornamented theme, is from 1864, originally the title given by Robert Schumann to one of his piano pieces.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper