1. Ornamental work consisting of, or (as in Arch.) representing, cords or the like intertwined and knotted together.
1851. D. Wilson, Preh. Ann. (1863), II. IV. ii. 237. The interlaced knotwork so favourite a device of Celtic Art. Ibid., II. IV. iv. 292. The ornamentation vulgarly called Runic knot-work.
1863–9. Dict. Archit., Knot work. The term lately given to a species of ornament of great variety and beauty, met with in manuscripts, on articles of attire, on monuments, and in the architecture, of the middle ages.
1866. G. Stephens, Runic Mon., I. 389. The borders themselves, with their varied sculpture of knotwork and ropework, seem decidedly British.
2. A kind of fancy needlework.
1882. Caulfeild & Saward, Dict. Needlework, Knot Work, this is an old work recently introduced from the continent into England … the modern Knot Work is made with fine silk on thread knotted over crochet cotton or cord, with its edging made with crochet.
