Arabesque

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

a species of ornament used for enriching flat surfaces, either painted, inlaid in mosaic, or carved in low-relief.: 'It was much employed by the Arabs, and by the Saracens or Moors in Spain. In the domestic architecture of England of the 16th and 17th centuries, this mode of ornamentation is very frequent.

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

An ornamentation introduced by the Moors, consisting of imaginary, often fantastic, mathematical or vegetable forms, but exclusive of the forms of men and animals.