curlicue
/ˈkəːlɪkjuː
/noun
A decorative curl or twist in calligraphy or in the design of an object: the wide bridge was decorated with gilded wrought-iron curlicues...
- I guess I've always thoughtlessly assumed they were decorative, like curlicues and friezes.
- There are parchments of painstaking calligraphy, replete with fabulous swirls and curlicues, and magic carpets wider than the Bosphorus.
- From one perspective, the looping appendages and curving elements suggest the handles and decorative curlicues of a Rococo urn.
Origin
Mid 19th century: from curly + cue2 (in the sense 'pigtail'), or -cue representing the letter q.