Where does “trefoil” come from?
trefoil (Middle English) comes from Old French trifoil, from Latin trifolium, from Latin folium, from Proto-Italic *foljom, from Proto-Indo-European bʰolh₃yom, from Proto-Indo-European bʰleh₃-, from Proto-Indo-European bʰel-, from Proto-Indo-European bʰōl-.
Ancestry of “trefoil”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | trifoil | trefoil |
| 2 | Latin | trifolium | trefoil, clover |
| 3 | Latin | folium | a leaf; a petal; a sheet or leaf of paper |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | *foljom | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰolh₃yom | leaf |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰleh₃- | bloom, flower |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰel- | to sound; to speak, roar, bark; shiny, white; to... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | bʰōl- | — |