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Trefoil (from Latin ''trifolium'', three-leaved plant, French ''trèfle'',
German ''Dreiblatt'' and ''Dreiblattbogen'') is a term in Gothic Architecture given to the ornamental foliation or cusping introduced in the heads of window-lights, tracery, panellings, etc., in which the center takes the form of a three-lobed Leaf (formed from three partially-overlapping circles). One of the earliest examples is in the plate tracery at Winchester ( 1222 - 1235 ). The four-fold version of an architectural trefoil is a Quatrefoil .

A trefoil combined with an equilateral triangle was also a moderately common symbol of the Christian Trinity during the late middle ages in some parts of Europe. Two forms of this are shown below: