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.
Origin: F. Arabesque, fr. It. Arabesco, fr. Arabo Arab.
Source: Websters Vocabulary