Meanings
plural trefoils
- Any of several plants of the pea family, having compound, trifoliate leaves; especially one of the genus Trifolium.
- A symbol having the shape of such leaves, especially when used as an architectural ornament.
"The pristine, unbroken condition of the vessel – sometimes called a trefoil jug – caused the entire dig to 'come to a halt,' Søvsø remarked."
2015 June 16, David DeMar, “Ancient Pitcher Discovered in Historic Danish City”, in New HistorianSynonyms: threefoil
- abbreviationellipsismathematicsEllipsis of trefoil knot.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA symbol having the shape of such leaves, especially when used as an architectural ornament.
More synonyms by meaning
nounany of several Old World herbs of the genus Medicago having small flowers and trifoliate compound leaves
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latintrifolium
- Old Frenchtrifoil
- Middle Englishtrefoil
- Englishtrefoil
From Middle English trefoil, from Old French trifoil, trefeul, from Latin trifolium, from tri- (“three”) + folium (“leaf”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic نَفَل
- نَفَل (nafal)plant
Bulgarian трилистник, трили́стник
- трилистник (trilistnik)plant
- трили́стник (trilístnik)symbol
Catalan trèvol
- trèvolplant
Chinese Cantonese 三葉草 /三叶草
- 三葉草 /三叶草 (saam¹ jip⁶ cou²)plant
Chinese Mandarin 三葉草 /三叶草
- 三葉草 /三叶草 (sānyècǎo)plant
Czech trojlístek, trojlist
- trojlístekplant
- trojlistsymbol
Danish trekløver
- trekløverplant
Dutch klaver
- klaverplant
Esperanto trifolio
- trifolioplant
Finnish kolmiapila, apilanlehti
- kolmiapilaplant
- apilanlehtisymbol
- kolmiapilasymbol
- kolmilehtisymbol
French trèfle, tiercefeuille
- trèfleplant
- tiercefeuillesymbol
- tierce-feuillesymbol
German Klee, Dreiblatt
- Kleeplant
- Dreiblattplant
- Dreipasssymbol
Greek τριφύλλι
- τριφύλλι (trifýlli)plant
Italian trifoglio
- trifoglioplant
Japanese クローバー
- クローバー (kurōbā)plant
Latin trifolium, trifolium
- trifoliumplant
- trifoliumsymbol
Persian شبدر
- شبدر (šabdar)plant
Polish koniczyna, trójliść
- koniczynaplant
- trójliśćsymbol
Portuguese trifólio, trevo
- trifólioplant
- trevoplant
Romanian trifoi
- trifoiplant
Russian трили́стник, кле́вер
- трили́стник (trilístnik)plant
- кле́вер (kléver)plant
- трили́стник (trilístnik)symbol
Scottish Gaelic seamrag, barra-mhìslein
- seamragplant
- barra-mhìsleinplant
Spanish trébol, trébol
- trébolplant
- trébolsymbol
Tagalog klober
- kloberplant
Turkish yonca, tirfil
- yoncaplant
- tirfilplant
- üçgülplant
Ukrainian трили́сник
- трили́сник (trylýsnyk)plant
Vietnamese cây chia ba
- cây chia baplant
Cite this entry
trefoil. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trefoil
“trefoil.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trefoil. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “trefoil,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/trefoil.
Source: trefoil on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.