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arabesque

 - 3 dictionary results

ar⋅a⋅besque

  [ar-uh-besk]
–noun
1. Fine Arts. a sinuous, spiraling, undulating, or serpentine line or linear motif.
2. 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.
3. a short, fanciful musical piece, typically for piano.
4. 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.
–adjective
5. decorated with or characterized by arabesques: arabesque design.
Use arabesque in a Sentence
Origin:
1605–15; < F < It arabesco ornament in Islamic style, lit., Arabian, equiv. to arab(o) arab + -esco -esque

Related forms:
ar⋅a⋅besque⋅ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To arabesque
ar·a·besque   (ār'ə-běsk')   
n.  

  1. A ballet position in which the dancer bends forward while standing on one straight leg with the arm extended forward and the other arm and leg extended backward.

  2. A complex, ornate design of intertwined floral, foliate, and geometric figures.

  3. Music An ornate, whimsical composition especially for piano.

  4. An intricate or elaborate pattern or design: "the fluctuating shapes of a cloudscape, the complex arabesque of a camera movement, the blink of a character's eye" (Nigel Andrews).

adj.  In the fashion of or formed as an arabesque.

[French, from Italian arabesco, in Arabian fashion, from Arabo, an Arab, from Latin Arabus, from Arabs; see Arab.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

arabesque 
1611, "Moorish or Arabic ornamental design," from Fr. arabesque, from It. arabesco, from Arabo "Arab," with reference to Moorish architecture. As a ballet pose, first attested 1830. Musical sense, in ref. to an ornamented theme, is from 1864, originally the title given by Robert Schumann to one of his piano pieces.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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