arabesque
French, noun/a.ʁa.bɛsk/
arabesque is spelled A-R-A-B-E-S-Q-U-E (9 letters) and appears about once in every 3 million words in written French, the 53,838th most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Arabesque is a French feminine noun meaning “arabesque” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Sorte d’ornement dont on a attribué l’invention aux Arabes et qui consiste en des entrelacements de…”.
What does arabesque mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininearabesque
adjective
- 1
obsoleteArabic (of Arabic peoples)
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Arabe, qui est propre aux Arabes.
noun: 1. Sorte d’ornement dont on a attribué l’invention aux Arabes et qui consiste en des entrelacements de feuillages, de fruits, de fleurs, d’animaux, etc., assemblés le plus ordinairement d’une manière capricieuse et sans autre dessein que celui de former un enchaînement agréable à l’œil. 2. Tout ce qui rappelle ces ornements artistiques. 3. Ornementation musicale. 4. Figure de danse rappelant les motifs décoratifs.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of arabesque
- arabesques plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce arabesque?
- /a.ʁa.bɛsk/
- \a.ʁa.bɛsk\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to arabesque
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is arabesque in French?
arabesque appears about once in every 3 million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).