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Webster 1913 Edition
Arabesque
Arˊa-besque′
,Noun.
[F.
arabesque
, fr. It. arabesco
, fr. Arabo
Arab.] A style of ornamentation either painted, inlaid, or carved in low relief. It consists of a pattern in which plants, fruits, foliage, etc., as well as figures of men and animals, real or imaginary, are fantastically interlaced or put together.
☞ It was employed in Roman imperial ornamentation, and appeared, without the animal figures, in Moorish and Arabic decorative art. (See
Moresque
.) The arabesques of the Renaissance were founded on Greco-Roman work. Arˊa-besque′
,Adj.
1.
Arabian.
[Obs.]
2.
Relating to, or exhibiting, the style of ornament called arabesque;
as,
. arabesque
frescoes