cinquefoil

[ singk-foil ]
See synonyms for cinquefoil on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. any of several plants belonging to the genus Potentilla, of the rose family, having yellow, red, or white five-petaled flowers, as P. reptans(creeping cinquefoil ), of the Old World, or P. argentea(silvery cinquefoil ), of North America.

  2. Also called quinquefoil, quintefoil. Architecture. a panellike ornament consisting of five lobes, divided by cusps, radiating from a common center.

  1. Heraldry. a charge in the form of a five-leaved clover.

Origin of cinquefoil

1
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English sink foil, from Middle French cincfoille, from Latin quīnque folia “five leaves,” translation of Greek pentáphyllon “cinquefoil,” noun use of adjective pentáphyllos “five-petalled”

Words Nearby cinquefoil

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cinquefoil in a sentence

  • The Creeping cinquefoil has a slender stem that creeps on the ground and forms new roots at the nodes.

    Field and Woodland Plants | William S. Furneaux

British Dictionary definitions for cinquefoil

cinquefoil

/ (ˈsɪŋkˌfɔɪl) /


noun
  1. any plant of the N temperate rosaceous genus Potentilla, typically having five-lobed compound leaves

  2. an ornamental carving in the form of five arcs arranged in a circle and separated by cusps

  1. heraldry a charge representing a five-petalled flower

Origin of cinquefoil

1
C13 sink foil, from Old French cincfoille, from Latin quinquefolium plant with five leaves, translating Greek pentaphullon from pente five + phullon leaf

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