arabesque

Etymology

Borrowed from French arabesque, from Italian arabesco, from arabo (“Arab”). By surface analysis, Arab + -esque.

noun

1. (art, architecture, also attributively) An elaborate design of intertwined floral figures or complex geometrical patterns, mainly used in Islamic art and architecture.
2. (music) An ornate composition, especially for the piano.
3. (ballet) A dance position in which the dancer stands on one leg, with the other raised backwards, and the arms outstretched.
4. (by extension, attributively) Elaborate or ornate creations in general.
   For a man who condemned worldly pleasures he ate with elegance. She loved to watch the arabesque of fingers and two forks. 1995, Gregory Maguire, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, 25th Anniversary edition, William Morrow, published 2020, pages 8–9
   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, […] 2003, Robert Irwin, The Arabian Nights: A Companion, page 210