Bible Encyclopedias
Trefoil

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

(Lat. trifolium, three-leaved plant, Fr. trefle, Ger. Dreiblatl 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);1235); See Quatrefoil.

Bibliography Information
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Trefoil'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​bri/​t/trefoil.html. 1910.