trefoil

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trefoil

tre·foil

(trē′foil′, trĕf′oil′)

1. Any of various plants of the pea family, chiefly of the genera Trifolium and Lotus, having compound trifoliolate leaves.

2. An ornament, symbol, or architectural form having the appearance of a trifoliolate leaf.

[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman trifoil, from Latin trifolium : tri-, tri- + folium, leaf; see bhel- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

trefoil

(ˈtrɛfɔɪl)

1. (Plants) 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

2. (Plants) any of various related plants having leaves divided into three leaflets, such as bird's-foot trefoil

3. (Botany) a leaf having three leaflets

4. (Architecture) architect an ornament in the form of three arcs arranged in a circle

[C14: from Anglo-French trifoil, from Latin trifolium three-leaved herb, from tri- + folium leaf]

ˈtrefoiled adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

tre•foil

(ˈtri fɔɪl, ˈtrɛf ɔɪl)

n.

1. clover (def. 1).

2. any of various plants having three leaflets resembling those of clover.

3. a three-lobed flower or leaf.

4. an architectural ornament composed of three lobes, separated by cusps, radiating from a common center.

5. any three-lobed figure, design, or emblem resembling a clover leaf.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Anglo-French trifoil < Latin trifolium triple leaf]

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Noun	1.	trefoil - any of several Old World herbs of the genus Medicago having small flowers and trifoliate compound leaves medic, medick herb, herbaceous plant - a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests genus Medicago, Medicago - a genus of herbs that resemble clover Medicago arborea, moon trefoil - evergreen shrub of southern European highlands having downy foliage and a succession of yellow flowers throughout the summer followed by curious snail-shaped pods Medicago falcata, sickle alfalfa, sickle lucerne, sickle medick - European medic naturalized in North America having yellow flowers and sickle-shaped pods Calvary clover, Medicago echinus, Medicago intertexta - an annual of the Mediterranean area having spiny seed pods and leaves with dark spots black medick, hop clover, Medicago lupulina, nonesuch clover, yellow trefoil - prostrate European herb with small yellow flowers and curved black pods; naturalized in North America alfalfa, lucerne, Medicago sativa - important European leguminous forage plant with trifoliate leaves and blue-violet flowers grown widely as a pasture and hay crop
	2.	trefoil - a plant of the genus Trifolium clover genus Trifolium, Trifolium - any leguminous plant having leaves divided into three leaflets alpine clover, Trifolium alpinum - European mountain clover with fragrant usually pink flowers lesser yellow trefoil, Trifolium dubium, hop clover, shamrock - clover native to Ireland with yellowish flowers; often considered the true or original shamrock crimson clover, Italian clover, Trifolium incarnatum - southern European annual with spiky heads of crimson flower; extensively cultivated in United States for forage purple clover, red clover, Trifolium pratense - erect to decumbent short-lived perennial having red-purple to pink flowers; the most commonly grown forage clover Trifolium reflexum, Trifolium stoloniferum, buffalo clover - clover of western United States dutch clover, shamrock, Trifolium repens, white clover - creeping European clover having white to pink flowers and bright green leaves; naturalized in United States; widely grown for forage herb, herbaceous plant - a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests
	3.	trefoil - an architectural ornament in the form of three arcs arranged in a circle architectural ornament - (architecture) something added to a building to improve its appearance

Translations

trojlisttrojlístek

trekløver

DreipassKlee

kolmiapila

trèfle

spagna trifoglio

trefoil

[ˈtrefɔɪl] N → trébol m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

trefoil

n (Bot) → Klee m; (symbol of Girl Guide movement) → Kleeblatt nt; (Archit) → Dreipass m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

trefoil

[ˈtrɛfɔɪl] n (Bot) → trifoglio (Archit) → decorazione f a trifoglio

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

References in classic literature ?

It was the Normans who began to build that fine old hall, which is, like the town, telling of the thoughts and hands of widely sundered generations; but it is all so old that we look with loving pardon at its inconsistencies, and are well content that they who built the stone oriel, and they who built the Gothic facade and towers of finest small brickwork with the trefoil ornament, and the windows and battlements defined with stone, did not sacreligiously pull down the ancient half-timbered body with its oak-roofed banqueting-hall.

View in context

The design, similar on both sides, features a 2-tier pedestal incorporating open trefoils with spiky projections, solidly beaded leaves and scrolls, within simple linear borders.

Gifts from the Dawn Land: 19th Century Wabanaki Souvenir Bead work: Part 1

Chicago-area Girl Scouts will sell their famous Thin Mints, Trefoils, Do-si-Dos and other cookie varieties door-to-door and at various locations in February and March.

READY TO SELL!

Shoelace knots are the simplest: called trefoils. But most knots are a combination of trefoils, so we might be able to use this to understand how more complex knots work.

Those Pesky Shoelace Knots!

Available flavors are Thin Mints, PB Sandwich, Trefoils, Chocolate PB, and Caramel Coconut.

Bake your own: girl scouts cookie oven

There is no greater challenge to a dieter than Thin Mints, Samoas, Peanut Butter Patties and, my hands-down favorite, shortbread Trefoils. Oh, sweet heaven on Earth, I'd give my right arm for the Trefoils recipe -- if I didn't need my right arm to dunk the cookies in a mug of ice-cold milk.

Tough new diet means writer has to lose his cookies

Volunteers from Calgary Girl Guides Trefoils and the "Y Knots" are staying connected by participating in a nationwide project aiming to eradicate hunger and poverty.

Thanksgiving at the mustard seed

Here trefoils at the end of Book 2 of Walter Hilton's Scale of Perfection accompany the monogram Grenehalgh devised for himself.

Design and authorship in the Book of Margery Kempe

The New York Chinatown-authorized show of counterfeit trefoils was truly outstanding.

Hoy soy

Use weedkillers at the first signs of medicks and trefoils. Spot-treat rosette weeds such as dandelions.

Jubilee Gardening: TIPS FOR THE WEEK

Insects that had once sipped bellflower nectar like pros fumbled bled like first-timers after they had been forced to partake of trefoils for a while.

How bright is a butterfly? The prettiest pollinators match wits with bees

Shoelace knots are the simplest and called trefoils. But most knots are a combination of trefoils, so we might be able to use this to understand how more complex knots work.