Illustrated Architecture Dictionary

Foil
Pronounced: FOYL

A lobe or leaf-shaped curve formed between cusps inside an arch or circle

In French, "foil" means "leaf"

The number of foils is indicated by a prefix, e.g. trefoil, quatrefoil, cinquefoil, sexfoil, multifoil

Mouchette: A daggerlike motif found especially in 14th cent. Gothic tracery, formed by elliptical and ogee curves so that it is pointed at one end and circular at the other.

Foils found in Gothic and Gothic Revival styles

See also: Vocabulary - Churches

Examples from Buffalo architecture

• Illustration above: Thomas Crane Monument (trefoil)
  
  
• Hotel Touraine (trefoil)
  
  
• St. Mary of Sorrows / King Urban Life Center (quatrefoil)
  
  
• Central Presbyterian Church

• George A. Austin House

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Photos and their arrangement © 2002 Chuck LaChiusa
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