cinquefoil

[singk-foil]

See more synonyms for cinquefoil on Thesaurus.com

noun

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.
Also called quinquefoil, quintefoil. Architecture. a panellike ornament consisting of five lobes, divided by cusps, radiating from a common center.
Heraldry. a charge in the form of a five-leaved clover.

Origin of cinquefoil

1375–1425; late Middle English sink foil < Middle French cincfoille < Latin quīnque folia five leaves, translation of Greek pentáphyllon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for cinquefoil

cinquefoil, pentangle, pentagram, quintuple, lustrum, cinque, quinquennium, pentacle, quintuplet, pentagon, limerick, pentad, quincunx, quinquennial, quintuplicate

Examples from the Web for cinquefoil

Contemporary Examples of cinquefoil

In June, he writes, "The wind dies, bees hover outside the open tower windows, the cinquefoil blooms butter yellow in the meadow."
Great Weekend Reads
The Daily Beast
April 23, 2011

Historical Examples of cinquefoil

They are closely allied to cinquefoil, and all belong to the rose family.
Seed Dispersal
William J. Beal
These are thicker than in the Cinquefoil, and are often tinged with pink.
Flowers Shown to the Children
C. E. Smith
On the south side the westernmost Perpendicular bay, up to the triforium, is solid and covered with cinquefoil panelling.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ripon
Cecil Walter Charles Hallett
The panels are pointed and divided each into two cinquefoil divisions.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ripon
Cecil Walter Charles Hallett
Over each seat is an ogee canopy, cinquefoil, crocketed, and surmounted by a huge finial.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Ripon
Cecil Walter Charles Hallett

British Dictionary definitions for cinquefoil

cinquefoil

noun

any plant of the N temperate rosaceous genus Potentilla, typically having five-lobed compound leaves
an ornamental carving in the form of five arcs arranged in a circle and separated by cusps
heraldry a charge representing a five-petalled flower

Word Origin for cinquefoil

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

Word Origin and History for cinquefoil

from Latin quinquefolium, from quinque (see five) + folium (see folio).