See Also: Trefoil(medicine)
trefoil(dictionary)
trefoil(dictionary)
bean trefoil(medicine)
trefoil dermatitis(medicine)
trefoil polypeptide(medicine)
trefoil tendon(medicine)
water trefoil(medicine)
bird's-foot trefoil(encyclopedia)

trefoil (iou)



trefoil noun & adjective. ME.
[Anglo-Norman trifoil from Latin trifolium (whence Old French trefeuil), formed as TRI- + folium leaf, FOIL noun1.]
A. noun.
Any of various mainly leguminous plants, esp. clovers (genus Trifolium), having leaves composed of three leaflets; esp. any of several small yellow-flowered plants of this kind. ME.
bean trefoil, bird's-foot trefoil, hop trefoil, tick-trefoil, etc.
An ornamental figure representing or resembling a trifoliate leaf, spec. (Architecture) in a tracery window; gen. a thing arranged in or having three lobes, a set or group of three. ME.
b. Heraldry. A charge representing a clover-leaf with its stalk. M16.
b. adjective. Consisting of three leaflets or lobes, trifoliate; having the shape of a trefoil, decorated with a trefoil or trefoils. M18.
trefoiled adjective = TREFOIL adjective LME.
trefoliated adjective = TRIFOLIATE M19.