quatrefoil

English

Quatrefoil with more overlap

Quatrefoil with less overlap

Quatrefoil combined with square

Noun

quatrefoil (plural quatrefoils)

1. (architecture) a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially-overlapping circles of the same diameter.
2. (heraldry) A stylized flower or leaf with four lobes.

Coordinate terms

• trefoil
• cinquefoil
• sexfoil
• huitfoil

See also

• multifoil
• polyfoil

Quotations

• 1988, Alan Hollinghurst, The Swimming Pool Library, Penguin Books, paperback edition, page 142

  It was a narrow, gravelled island we had to lie on, guarded by glazed brick chimneys and, running along the sides, a prickly little gothic fence of iron finials and terracotta quatrefoils.

Translations

shape

• German: Vierpass (de) m