the.com/quinfoil

A five-lobed leaf shape from Gothic tracery and heraldry, rarer than the trefoil and quatrefoil.

means A five-lobed ornamental shape (like a flower outline with five petals), used especially in Gothic tracery and heraldry — one step past the more common quatrefoil.

from Built from Latin 'quinque' (five) plus 'foil,' from Latin 'folium' (leaf) — the same 'foil' found in trefoil (three) and quatrefoil (four). The pattern follows a simple medieval naming system for lobed shapes in architecture and design: count the leaves, add the Latin number. 'Quinfoil' is the rarer, less-standardized member of that family — sometimes also called 'cinquefoil,' which took its 'cinq' from French rather than Latin.

meaning
a shape or motif with five foils or lobes
etymology
from quin- (five) plus foil (leaf)
cousin
related to quatrefoil and trefoil in heraldry
usage
mostly spotted in Gothic window tracery
the.com · every word