quatrefoil

• quadrefoil
• quarterfoil, quaterfoil (archaic)

From Old French quatrefoil, from quatre (“four”) + foil (“leaf”).

• IPA^(key): /kætɹəˌfɔɪl/, /kætə(ɹ)ˌfɔɪl/

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quatrefoil (plural quatrefoils)

1. (architecture) A symmetrical shape that forms the overall outline of four partially-overlapping circles of the same diameter.
   • 1988, Alan Hollinghurst, The Swimming-Pool Library, paperback edition, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN, 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.

2. (heraldry) A stylized flower or leaf with four lobes.

• quaterfoil