quatrefoil
English
Quatrefoil with more overlap
Quatrefoil with less overlap
Quatrefoil combined with square
Alternative forms
- quadrefoil
- quarterfoil, quaterfoil (archaic)
Etymology
From Old French quatrefoil, from quatre (“four”) + foil (“leaf”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /kætɹəˌfɔɪl/, /kætə(ɹ)ˌfɔɪl/
Noun
quatrefoil (plural quatrefoils)
- (architecture) A symmetrical shape that forms the overall outline of four partially-overlapping circles of the same diameter.
- 1988, Alan Hollinghurst, The Swimming-Pool Library, paperback edition, London: Penguin, OCLC 17841394, page 142:
- It was a narrow, gravelled island we had to lie on, guarded by glazed brick chimneys and, running along the sides, a prickly little gothic fence of iron finials and terracotta quatrefoils.
-
- (heraldry) A stylized flower or leaf with four lobes.
Coordinate terms
- trefoil
- cinquefoil
- sexfoil
- octofoil
- multifoil
- polyfoil
Related terms
- quatrefoliated
Translations
shape
|
Anagrams
- quaterfoil