rocaille

[roh-kahy; French raw-kah-yuh]

noun

Fine Arts. any of the fantastic ornamental, often asymmetrical, combinations characteristic of the Rococo period, consisting of rock, shell, and plant forms combined with artificial forms, esp C-curves.

Origin of rocaille

1855–60; < French: pebble-work, derivative of roc rock¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for rocaille

Historical Examples of rocaille

After the death of its owner society, in a fit of madness, plunged into the rocaille.
The House in Good Taste
Elsie de Wolfe
He had a most marvelous power of invention and lavished ornament on everything, carrying the rocaille style to its utmost limit.
Furnishing the Home of Good Taste
Lucy Abbot Throop

British Dictionary definitions for rocaille

rocaille

noun

decorative rock or shell work, esp as ornamentation in a rococo fountain, grotto, or interior

Word Origin for rocaille

from French, from roc rock 1

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