cinquefoil

[singk-foil]

cinque·foil

[singk-foil]
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.
3.
Heraldry. a charge in the form of a five-leaved clover.

Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English sink foil < Middle French cincfoille < Latin quīnque folia five leaves, translation of Greek pentáphyllon
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Cinquefoil is always a great word to know.
So is column. Does it mean:
a rigid, relatively slender, upright support, composed of relatively few pieces
a longitudinal division of an interior area, as in a church, separated from the main area by an arcade or the like
Collins
World English Dictionary
cinquefoil (ˈsɪŋkˌfɔɪl)
 
n
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
3.  heraldry a charge representing a five-petalled flower
 
[C13 sink foil, from Old French cincfoille, from Latin quinquefolium plant with five leaves, translating Greek pentaphullon from pente five + phullon leaf]

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