/singk"foyl'/ , n.
1. any of several plants belonging to the genus Potentilla, of the rose family, having yellow, red, or white five-petaled flowers, as P. reptans (creeping cinquefoil) , of the Old World, or P. argentea (silvery cinquefoil) , of North America.
2. Also called quinquefoil, quintefoil . Archit. a panellike ornament consisting of five lobes, divided by cusps, radiating from a common center.
3. Heraldry. a charge in the form of a five-leaved clover.
[ 1375-1425; late ME sink foil cincfoille quinque folia five leaves, trans. of Gk pentáphyllon ]