moorish

Moor"ish, a. Etym: [From 2d Moor.] Defn: Having the characteristics of a moor or heath. "Moorish fens." Thomson. Moor"ish, a. Etym: [See 1st Moor, and cf. Morris, Moresque.] Defn: Of or pertaining to Morocco or the Moors; in the style of the Moors. Moorish architecture, the style developed by the Moors in the later Middle Ages, esp. in Spain, in which the arch had the form of a horseshoe, and the ornamentation admitted no representation of animal life. It has many points of resemblance to the Arabian and Persian styles, but should be distinguished from them. See Illust. under Moresque.

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