trefoil
Meaning
A small plant with leaves that each have three rounded parts, such as clover.
An ornament, symbol, or architectural feature shaped like such a leaf.
Structure
Usage
The field was dotted with the white flowers of trefoil.
The trefoil is a common symbol found in Gothic church windows.
She carefully pressed a trefoil clover between the pages of her book.
Etymology
The word 'trefoil' is a direct borrowing from Anglo-French, itself derived from the Latin phrase trifolium, meaning "three-leaved plant". The Latin components are tri- (three) and folium (leaf). The term entered English in the medieval period, initially describing clover and similar plants. Its application later expanded to architecture and heraldry, where the three-lobed shape became a common decorative and symbolic motif, logically extending the literal botanical meaning into an abstract design element.
Analysis
- tre: From Latin trēs, meaning "three". In this compound, it functions as a numerical prefix. - foil: From Old French foille, from Latin folium, meaning "leaf". It functions as the base noun.