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rocaille

[ roh-kahy; French raw-kah-yuh ]
/ roʊˈkaɪ; French rɔˈkɑ yə /
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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.
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Origin of rocaille

1855–60; <French: pebble-work, derivative of rocrock1

Words nearby rocaille

robusta coffee, robustious, robustness, roc, Roca, rocaille, rocambole, Rocard, Rochambeau, Rochdale, roche alum
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use rocaille in a sentence

  • 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

  • After the death of its owner society, in a fit of madness, plunged into the rocaille.

    The House in Good Taste|Elsie de Wolfe

British Dictionary definitions for rocaille

rocaille
/ (rɒˈkaɪ) /
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
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