Word.ws English Dictionary

quaterfoil

quaterfoil is the archaic form of quatrefoil.

Meaning of quatrefoil

Noun

quatrefoil (plural quatrefoils)

  1. A symmetrical shape that forms the overall outline of four partially-overlapping circles of the same diameter.
    • 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.1988, Alan Hollinghurst, The Swimming-Pool Library, paperback edition, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN, page 142
  2. A stylized flower or leaf with four lobes.

Forms of quaterfoil

pluralquaterfoils

Questions about quaterfoil

What is quaterfoil the archaic form of?
Quaterfoil is the archaic form of quatrefoil.

Words near quaterfoil in the dictionary

  1. quater-imaginary
  2. quatercentenaries
  3. quatercentenary
  4. quatercentennial
  5. quatercentennials
  6. quaterfoil
  7. quaterfoils
  8. quatern
  9. quaternal
  10. quaternalize
  11. quaternalized

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: quaterfoil (page history and authors); quatrefoil (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “quaterfoil.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/quaterfoil. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.