curlicue

also n.
A fancy twist or curl, such as a flourish made with a pen.

[CURLY + CUE¹, tail, and possibly CUE³.]

curlicued curl'i·cued adj.

or curlycue

(KUR-li-kyoo)

noun
A decorative curl or twist, in a signature, calligraphy, etc.

Etymology
From curly, from curl, from crul (yes, that's how it was spelled earlier) + cue, from Old French cue (tail)

To find some great curlicues, try the US Declaration of Independence archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/declaration_zoom_2.html. The most prominent signature is of John Hancock, the first signer of the document. Today the term John Hancock has become an eponym for a signature.
Happy holidays and Happy New Year to all of you from all of us at Wordsmith.org!

Usage
"Book covers are likely to be pink with snappy titles in curlicue fonts and images of a woman's body part (often long, bare legs tapering to a couple of high-heeled exclamation points)." — Tahree Lane; Women's Lives Are Reflected in 'Chic Lit' Genre; Toledo Blade (Ohio); Nov 13, 2005.

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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles
  Synonyms: coil, whorl, roll, curl, ringlet, gyre, scroll

Meaning #2: a short twisting line
  Synonym: squiggle

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - krusedulle

Nederlands (Dutch)
tierelantijntje

Français (French)
n. - fioriture, figure (de patinage)

Deutsch (German)
n. - Schnörkel

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (για γραφή) μαγκουρίτσα

Italiano (Italian)
svolazzo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - arabesco (m)

Русский (Russian)
завитушка

Español (Spanish)
n. - arabesco, cosa ensortijada caprichosamente

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - krusidull

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
花体, 花饰

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 花體, 花飾

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 소용돌이

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 渦巻図形, 渦巻形の飾り書き
v. - 渦巻図形をなす

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) لفه فنيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮סלסול לקישוט, סלסול (מתחת לחתימה)‬

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