arabesque

UK: /ˌærəˈbɛsk/ US: /ˌærəˈbɛsk/ ,(ar′ə besk′)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

ar•a•besque /ˌærəˈbɛsk/   n. [countable]

1. Fine Art an ornamental style in which designs, as of flowers, are represented in complex patterns.
2. Music and Dance a pose in ballet.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

ar•a•besque  (ar′ə besk′), n. 

1. Fine Art a sinuous, spiraling, undulating, or serpentine line or linear motif.
2. Music and Dance 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. Music and Dance a short, fanciful musical piece, typically for piano.
4. Fine Art 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.

adj. 

5. Fine Art decorated with or characterized by arabesques:
   arabesque design.

• Italian arabesco ornament in Islamic style, literally, Arabian, equivalent. to arab(o) arab + -esco -esque
• French
• 1605–15

ar′a•besque′ly, adv. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

arabesque / ˌærəˈbɛsk/ noun

1. a classical position in which the dancer has one leg raised behind and both arms stretched out in one of several conventional poses
2. a piece or movement with a highly ornamented or decorated melody
3. a type of curvilinear decoration in painting, metalwork, etc, with intricate intertwining leaf, flower, animal, or geometrical designs

Etymology: 18th Century: from French, from Italian arabesco in the Arabic style