Romanesque
    n 1: a style of architecture developed in Italy and western
         Europe between the Roman and the Gothic styles after 1000
         AD; characterized by round arches and vaults and by the
         substitution of piers for columns and profuse ornament and
         arcades [syn: Romanesque, Romanesque architecture]

Romanesque \Ro`man*esque"\, a. [F. romanesque; cf. It.
   romanesco.]
   1. (Arch.) Somewhat resembling the Roman; -- applied
      sometimes to the debased style of the later Roman empire,
      but esp. to the more developed architecture prevailing
      from the 8th century to the 12th.
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   2. Of or pertaining to romance or fable; fanciful.
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   Romanesque style (Arch.), that which grew up from the
      attempts of barbarous people to copy Roman architecture
      and apply it to their own purposes. This term is loosely
      applied to all the styles of Western Europe, from the fall
      of the Western Roman Empire to the appearance of Gothic
      architecture.
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Romanesque \Ro`man*esque"\, n.
   Romanesque style.
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