trefoil
any of numerous plants belonging to the genus Trifolium, of the legume family, having usually digitate leaves of three leaflets and reddish, purple, yellow, or white flower heads, comprising the common clovers.
any of various similar plants.
Architecture. an ornament composed of three lobes, divided by cusps, radiating from a common center.
such an ornamental figure used by the Girl Scouts as its official emblem.
of, relating to, or shaped like a trefoil.
Origin of trefoil
1Words Nearby trefoil
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use trefoil in a sentence
The windows on the south side of the clerestory are without the trefoil which ornaments the base of those on the north side.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Carlisle | C. King EleyA "trefoil arch" connects the 113six chief pillars, on each of which stands a statue of a Virtue.
Florence and Northern Tuscany with Genoa | Edward HuttonThe points of the omega are generally changed into small circles, leaves, or trefoil; and the disk itself is placed on a pedestal.
The Swastika | Thomas WilsonHundreds of yards of canvas, with the Tokugawa trefoil, had been stretched along the road to Kurihma.
Historic Adventures | Rupert S. HollandTreste, the trefoil leaf, or clover-grass (corruptly called Clubs) alludes to the husbandmen and peasants.
The Book of Curiosities | I. Platts
British Dictionary definitions for trefoil
/ (ˈtrɛfɔɪl) /
any of numerous leguminous plants of the temperate genus Trifolium, having leaves divided into three leaflets and dense heads of small white, yellow, red, or purple flowers
any of various related plants having leaves divided into three leaflets, such as bird's-foot trefoil
a leaf having three leaflets
architect an ornament in the form of three arcs arranged in a circle
Origin of trefoil
1Derived forms of trefoil
- trefoiled, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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