arabesque

noun

1. (also, attributive)An elaborate design of intertwined floral figures or complex geometrical patterns, mainly used in Islamic art and architecture.

   “The house of Ruthven was a small but ultra-modern limestone affair, between Madison and Fifth ;[…]. As a matter of fact its narrow ornate façade presented not a single quiet space that the eyes might rest on after a tiring attempt to follow and codify the arabesques, foliations, and intricate vermiculations of what some disrespectfully dubbed as “ near-aissance.””

2. An ornate composition, especially for the piano.
3. A dance position in which the dancer stands on one leg, with the other raised backwards, and the arms outstretched.
4. (attributive, broadly)Elaborate or ornate creations in general.

   “It was a sort of scene which Adam had beheld almost weekly for years; he knew by heart every arabesque flourish in the framed specimen of Bartle Massey’s handwriting which hung over the schoolmaster’s head, by way of keeping a lofty ideal before the minds of his pupils; […].”

   “For a man who condemned worldly pleasures he ate with elegance. She loved to watch the arabesque of fingers and two forks.”

   “In characterizing some of his tales as 'Arabesque', Poe intended no specific reference to the Arab manner of telling stories. He only used the term to refer to intricately patterned tales (intricate as the design of an oriental carpet) in which the centre of interest lay in the cunningly crafted plot, […]”

verb

1. (intransitive)To move in an arabesque motion.
2. (transitive)To decorate with an arabesque pattern.