quatrefoil means A symmetrical shape that forms the overall outline of four partially-overlapping circles of the same diameter. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 86 out of 100.
Why this word is great
QUATREFOIL — [Noun] A symmetrical ornamental motif, especially in architecture and heraldry, consisting of four lobes arranged in a circle. From the Old French quatrefoil, from quatre ("four") + foil ("leaf"). Unlike the trinitarian trefoil or the sprawling cloverleaf, the quatrefoil is a deliberate artifice of perfect balance. It is the crisp tracery in a Gothic window, the four-lobed seal pressed into medieval wax, and the pierced void in a stone screen framing slivers of sky—a shape that encloses quietude within its measured arcs, a testament to the human longing to frame the infinite within a stable, divisible form.
noun
- 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.”
- A stylized flower or leaf with four lobes.