Chapter Apsidal to Arable of A by Webster's Dictionary (1913 Edition)

It was employed in Roman imperial ornamentation, and appeared, without the animal figures, in Moorish and Arabic decorative art. (See Moresque.) The arabesques of the Renaissance were founded on Greco- Roman work.

Arabesque
(Ar`a*besque"), a.

1. Arabian. [Obs.]

2. Relating to, or exhibiting, the style of ornament called arabesque; as, arabesque frescoes.

Arabesqued
(Ar`a*besqued") a. Ornamented in the style of arabesques.

Arabian
(A*ra"bi*an) a. Of or pertaining to Arabia or its inhabitants.

Arabian bird, the phenix. Shak.

Arabian
(A*ra"bi*an), n. A native of Arabia; an Arab.

Arabic
(Ar"a*bic) a. [L. Arabicus, fr. Arabia.] Of or pertaining to Arabia or the Arabians.

Arabic numeralsor figures, the nine digits, 1, 2, 3, etc., and the cipher 0. — Gum arabic. See under Gum.

Arabic
(Ar"a*bic), n. The language of the Arabians.

The Arabic is a Semitic language, allied to the Hebrew. It is very widely diffused, being the language in which all Mohammedans must read the Koran, and is spoken as a vernacular tongue in Arabia, Syria, and Northern Africa.

Arabical
(A*rab"ic*al) a. Relating to Arabia; Arabic. — A*rab"ic*al*ly, adv.

Arabin
(Ar"a*bin) n.

1. (Chem.) A carbohydrate, isomeric with cane sugar, contained in gum arabic, from which it is extracted as a white, amorphous substance.

2. Mucilage, especially that made of gum arabic.

Arabinose
(Ar"a*bin*ose`) n. (Chem.) A sugar of the composition C₅H₁₀O₅, obtained from cherry gum by boiling it with dilute sulphuric acid.

Arabism
(Ar"a*bism) n. [Cf. F. Arabisme.] An Arabic idiom peculiarly of language. Stuart.

Arabist
(Ar`a*bist) n. [Cf. F. Arabiste.] One well versed in the Arabic language or literature; also, formerly, one who followed the Arabic system of surgery.

Arable
(Ar"a*ble) a. [F. arable, L. arabilis, fr. arare to plow, akin to Gr. E. ear, to plow. See Earable.] Fit for plowing or tillage; — hence, often applied to land which has been plowed or tilled.

Arable
(Ar"a*ble), n. Arable land; plow land.