Arabesque
Etymology
From French "arabesque," from Italian "arabesco," "in the Arab style," from Arabo, "Arab." Europeans coined it to describe the flowing, foliate ornament they admired in Islamic art, where figural images were largely avoided. The word later stretched to a graceful, curving ballet pose and to a delicate, ornamented piece of music.
noun · /air-uh-BESK/
An ornamental design of intertwined flowing lines, foliage, and scrollwork.
What it names
The endless, rhythmic interlace of vines and geometry found in Islamic decoration and its European imitations — a name for pattern that flows and repeats rather than depicting a fixed scene.
Example
The manuscript’s margins dissolved into arabesques, gold tendrils curling into one another with no beginning or end.
Related idea
An arabesque flows in organic curves and foliage; a fretwork pattern is built from rigid, interlocking straight lines and right angles.
noun · /air-uh-BESK/
A ballet position in which the dancer stands on one leg with the other extended straight out behind.
What it names
a foundational pose in classical ballet, prized for its long unbroken line
Example
She held the arabesque, one leg lifted behind her in a clean line.
Related idea
The name leaps from ornament to body: both trace a single flowing, curving line — the pose echoes the sinuous scrollwork of the decorative sense. A gentle musical piece also bears the name.