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Trefoil - Definition and Overview |
| Related Words: Leash, Shamrock, Tercet, Ternary, Three, Threesome, Trey, Triad, Triangle, Tricorn, Trident, Trilogy, Trimester, Trinity, Trio, Triphthong |
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Trefoil (from Latin trifolium, three-leaved plant, French trèfle,
German Dreiblatt and Dreiblattbogen) is a term in Gothic architecture
given to the ornamental foliation or cusping introduced in the heads of window-lights,
tracery, panellings, etc., in which the center takes the form of a three-lobed leaf,
one of the earliest examples being in the plate tracery at Winchester (1222—1235);
see Quatrefoil.
Trefoil is also a common name for some kinds of clover, who have three-foiled leaves.
In mathematical knot theory, a trefoil refers to a trefoil knot.
Trefoil is also the name of the symbol used to indicate radioactivity
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