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TREFOIL (Lat. trif olium, three-leaved plant, Fr. trk/le, Ger. Dreiblatt and Dreiblattbogen)
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TREFOIL (Lat. trif olium, three-leaved plant, Fr. trk/le, Ger. Dreiblatt and Dreiblattbogen), the term in Gothic architecture given to the ornamental foliation or cusping introduced in the heads of window-lights, tracery, panellings, &c., in which the centre takes the form of a three-lobed leaf, one of the earliest examples being in the plate tracery at Winchester (1222–1235); see QUATREFOIL.