Triskeles
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A symbol consisting of three spirals, or three bent human legs.
"1889 "The three legs diverging from one centre, which is now the well-known arms of the Isle of Man, is the ancient Triquetrum, or, as Olshausen [Zeitsch. f. Ethnol., 1886, p. 283] more properly terms it, the Triskeles, seen on the oldest Sicilian coins and on those of Lycia, in Asia Minor" (Daniel Garrison Brinton, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Volume 26, p. 177)"
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"1889 "The three legs diverging from one centre, which is now the well-known arms of the Isle of Man, is the ancient Triquetrum, or, as Olshausen [Zeitsch. f. Ethnol., 1886, p. 283] more properly terms it, the Triskeles, seen on the oldest Sicilian coins and on those of Lycia, in Asia Minor" (Daniel Garrison Brinton, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Volume 26, p. 177)"
Etymology
1880, via German Triskeles (c. 1850), from French triskèle (1835). It is in turn from Ancient Greek τρισκελής (triskelḗs, “three-legged”), composed of τρι- (tri-, “three”) + σκέλος (skélos, “leg”).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.