triquetra

Overview

Meaning Now

• A triangular figure composed of three interlaced arcs or a knot symbol consisting of three lobes, used in various cultural and religious contexts.
• In historical botanical or anatomical contexts, a three-cornered or three-sided object.

Journey

The term was originally used by Roman writers like Lucretius to describe the triangular shape of the island of Sicily (trinacria). In modern contexts, the term has been co-opted to describe the 'Trinity Knot,' an insular art motif popularized in the late 19th and 20th centuries, often incorrectly attributed exclusively to Celtic or Christian origins.

Evolution

1. Classical Latin

   triquetrus

   “three-cornered”

   Compound of 'tri-' (three) and 'quetrus' (cornered).

2. Late Latin

   triquetra

   “a triangle; a three-cornered shape”

   Used substantively as a feminine noun.

3. 16th-century English

   triquetra

   “three-cornered object or triangle”

   Direct borrowing into technical or scholarly English.

Connections

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