cinquefoil
UK /ˈsɪŋk.fɔɪl/ · US /ˈsɪŋkˌfɔɪl/ noun
Forms cinquefoils cinqfoil quinquefoil
- noun A potentilla (flower).
- noun (heraldry) A stylized flower or leaf with five lobes.
- noun (topology) A particular knot of five crossings.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Old French cinqfoil, from cinq (“five”) + foil (“leaf”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The name of several different species of the genus Potentilla; --also called five-finger, because of the resemblance of its leaves to the fingers of the hand.
- noun An ornamental foliation having five points or cups, used in windows, panels, etc. Gwilt. Marsh cinquefoil, the Potentilla palustris, a plant with purple flowers which grows in fresh-water marshes.
Etymology [Cinque five + foil, F. feuille leaf. See Foil.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cinquefoil”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details