silvery cinquefoil

silvery cinquefoil noun

1. See under cinquefoil(def 1).

cinquefoil [singk-foil] noun

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. Architecture. 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.

Origin of cinquefoil 1375–1425; late Middle English sink foil Middle French cincfoille Latin quīnque folia five leaves, translation of Greek pentáphyllon British Dictionary definitions for silvery cinquefoil cinquefoil noun

1. any plant of the N temperate rosaceous genus Potentilla, typically having five-lobed compound leaves
2. an ornamental carving in the form of five arcs arranged in a circle and separated by cusps
3. heraldry a charge representing a five-petalled flower

Word Origin for cinquefoil C13 sink foil, from Old French cincfoille, from Latin quinquefolium plant with five leaves, translating Greek pentaphullon from pente five + phullon leaf Word Origin and History for silvery cinquefoil cinquefoil n.

from Latin quinquefolium, from quinque (see five) + folium (see folio).