cinquefoil
cinq·foil/ˈsɪŋkˌfɔɪl/noun
cinquefoil is spelled C-I-N-Q-U-E-F-O-I-L: 10 letters and 2 syllables (cinq·foil). It appears about once in every 33 million words in written English, the 176,009th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, cinquefoil means “A potentilla (flower)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of cinquefoil is cinquefoils.
How many letters and syllables are in cinquefoil?
| Letters | 10: C-I-N-Q-U-E-F-O-I-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: cinq·foil |
| In writing | about once in every 33 million words; the 176,009th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is cinquefoil?
Cinquefoil appears about once in every 33 million words in written English, the 176,009th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce cinquefoil?
- UK /ˈsɪŋk.fɔɪl/
- US /ˈsɪŋkˌfɔɪl/
- US /ˈsæŋkˌfɔɪl/
Cinquefoil has 2 syllables, split cinq·foil in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Pvanp7-cinquefoil.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of cinquefoil
- cinquefoils plural
- cinqfoil
- quinquefoil
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does cinquefoil mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A potentilla (flower).
- 2
A stylized flower or leaf with five lobes.
- 3
A particular knot of five crossings.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Cinquefoil in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense heraldry: stylized flower or leaf with five lobes:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | quintefeuille |
| German | Fünfpass |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does cinquefoil come from?
From Old French cinqfoil, from cinq (“five”) + foil (“leaf”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).