TREFOIL

• TREFOIL (noun)
  The noun TREFOIL has 3 senses:

1. any of several Old World herbs of the genus Medicago having small flowers and trifoliate compound leaves
2. a plant of the genus Trifolium
3. an architectural ornament in the form of three arcs arranged in a circle

  Familiarity information: TREFOIL used as a noun is uncommon.

• TREFOIL (noun)

Meaning:

Any of several Old World herbs of the genus Medicago having small flowers and trifoliate compound leaves

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

medic; medick; trefoil

Hypernyms ("trefoil" is a kind of...):

herb; herbaceous plant (a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "trefoil"):

Medicago arborea; moon trefoil (evergreen shrub of southern European highlands having downy foliage and a succession of yellow flowers throughout the summer followed by curious snail-shaped pods)

Medicago falcata; sickle alfalfa; sickle lucerne; sickle medick (European medic naturalized in North America having yellow flowers and sickle-shaped pods)

Calvary clover; Medicago echinus; Medicago intertexta (an annual of the Mediterranean area having spiny seed pods and leaves with dark spots)

black medick; hop clover; Medicago lupulina; nonesuch clover; yellow trefoil (prostrate European herb with small yellow flowers and curved black pods; naturalized in North America)

alfalfa; lucerne; Medicago sativa (important European leguminous forage plant with trifoliate leaves and blue-violet flowers grown widely as a pasture and hay crop)

Holonyms ("trefoil" is a member of...):

genus Medicago; Medicago (a genus of herbs that resemble clover)

Meaning:

A plant of the genus Trifolium

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

clover; trefoil

Hypernyms ("trefoil" is a kind of...):

herb; herbaceous plant (a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pests)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "trefoil"):

dutch clover; shamrock; Trifolium repens; white clover (creeping European clover having white to pink flowers and bright green leaves; naturalized in United States; widely grown for forage)

alpine clover; Trifolium alpinum (European mountain clover with fragrant usually pink flowers)

hop clover; lesser yellow trefoil; shamrock; Trifolium dubium (clover native to Ireland with yellowish flowers; often considered the true or original shamrock)

crimson clover; Italian clover; Trifolium incarnatum (southern European annual with spiky heads of crimson flower; extensively cultivated in United States for forage)

purple clover; red clover; Trifolium pratense (erect to decumbent short-lived perennial having red-purple to pink flowers; the most commonly grown forage clover)

buffalo clover; Trifolium reflexum; Trifolium stoloniferum (clover of western United States)

Holonyms ("trefoil" is a member of...):

genus Trifolium; Trifolium (any leguminous plant having leaves divided into three leaflets)

Meaning:

An architectural ornament in the form of three arcs arranged in a circle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("trefoil" is a kind of...):

architectural ornament ((architecture) something added to a building to improve its appearance)