different between quatrefoil vs polyfoil

English

Alternative forms

• quadrefoil
• quarterfoil, quaterfoil (archaic)

Etymology

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

Noun

quatrefoil (plural quatrefoils)

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

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.

Coordinate terms

• trefoil
• cinquefoil
• sexfoil
• octofoil
• multifoil
• polyfoil

Related terms

• quatrefoliated

Translations

Anagrams

• quaterfoil

English

Etymology

poly- +? foil

Noun

polyfoil (plural polyfoils)

1. (architecture) Multifoil.

See also

• trefoil
• quatrefoil
• cinquefoil
• sexfoil
• octofoil

References

• polyfoil in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.