Moresque

n. A species of ornamentation used to enrich flat surfaces by the Moors, either painted, inlaid in mosaic, or carved in low relief, consisting of a fanciful and ideal mixture of fruits, flowers, mathematical or geometrical figures, without the introduction of animal or human figures, as these were forbidden by the Koran. But in later moresque, animal and human figures are introduced, often truncated, and growing out of plants, or resting on plants or foliage involved and twisted. It is substantially the same as ARABESQUE. [Written also mauresque.] Fairholt. Oxf. Gloss.