trifle 
" A trefle," quath he, " trcwllc ! lib treuth In full lltcll ! " 
/,.. //, ,,,/, (K. K. T. s.), i 
Thin yili ims^r in tlu' thurrok of iillc wikked and vileynK 
thoglltes, :i!id of allc j:ni^l<'-. trail' *. mid of alle ordure. 
Chaucer, I'areon s Talc. 
3. An idle speech or talc; vain or foolish talk; 
twaddle; nonsense; al.simlitv. 
Holdc thl tonge, Mercy ! 
It is but a Iriifle thnt thow tellest. 
l-irrt I'luu-maii (H), xvili. 147. 
4. Anylhingof slight v;il or moment ; a pal- 
try matter; an iiisignilirjiiil fact, circuiiisliini-c, 
object, amount, etc.: often used in the adver- 
bial phrase a trifle: as, to fed Irijli- annoyed. 
Thus ther stondes in stale the stif kyng hisselucn, 
Tulkkande lilfore the hyje table of triAri fill hende. 
Sir Qamayne and Ike (Jrefn Kniyht (K. K. T. S.X 1. 108. 
A snappcr-up of nnconnldered trifle*. 
Shalt., W. T., Iv. 3. 26. 
The bank Itself was small and grave, and a trife dingy. 
C. Reade, Love me Little, xl. 
C. A dish or confection consisting mainly of 
whipped cream or some light substitute, as 
the beaten whites of eggs, and usually con- 
taining fruit or almonds, and cake or pastry 
soaked in wine or brandy. 
I really tnuet confess that the I.og, for long, long after I 
first went to sea, . . . eould be compared to nothing more 
fitly than a dish of trifle, anciently called syllabub, with a 
stray plum here and there scattered at the bottom. 
M. Scott, Tom Cringle's Log, 1. 
6. Common pewter, such as is used for ordi- 
nary utensils, composed of eighty parts of tin 
and twenty of lead. 
trifle 1 (tri'fl), v.; pret. and pp. trifled, ppr. tri- 
fling. [< ME. triflen, trifelen, tryflen, treoflen, 
troflen, truflen, < OF. trujfler, truffer, jest, mock : 
see trifle^, .] I. intrans. 1. To jest; make 
sport ; hence, to use mockery ; treat something 
with derision, flippancy, or a lack of proper re- 
spect: often followed by with. 
The stede (a church) Is holy, and is y-zet to bidde god, 
n:t.;t nor to iangll, uorto llir;;;-;r [laugh], ne uorto trufly. 
AyenbiU of Inwyt (E. E. T. S.), p. 214. 
Look to yourself, dear sir, 
And trifle not with danger that attends you. 
Fletcher, Double Marriage, IT. 3. 
For is there nothing to trifle with but God and his Ser- 
vice? SKUingfleet, Sermons, I. 11. 
2f. To use trickery or deception ; cheat; lie. 
Thow art fable and false, and noghte hot falre wordei ; . . . 
I red thowe trette of a trewe, and trofle no lengere. 
Morte Arthurs (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 29S3. 
3. To talk or act idly; busy one's self with 
trivial or useless things; act frivolously ; waste 
one's time; dally; idle. 
Treoflinge heo smot her <fc ther in another tale sone. 
Rob. of Gloucester (ed. Morris and Skeat, II. 21). 
We would not trifle long at this place. 
HaHuyts Voyages, II. IL 28. 
I can only trifle In this Review. It takes me some time 
to think about serious subjects. 
Sydney Smith, To Francis Jeffrey, July, 1810. 
4. To play, as by lightly handling or touching 
something; toy. 
Hold still thy hands, moue not thy feete, beware thou of 
tryfling. Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 76. 
Stretch your blind hands and trifle with a match 
Over a mine of Qreek fire. Browning, An Epistle. 
The two gentlemen hart finished supper, and were now 
trifling with cigars and maraschino. 
R. L. Stevenson, The Dynamiter, p. 134. 
II. trans. It. To turn into jest or sport; 
hence, to treat lightly or flippantly ; play with. 
How dothe oure bysshop truth- and mocke vs, sythe he 
kepeth aboute hym the greatest brybour and robbor In 
all Fraunce, and wolde that we shulde gyue hym oure 
money. Bfrners, tr. of Frolssart's Chron., I. cc. 
2. To spend on trifles ; pass idly or foolishly ; 
waste; fritter: often followed by away. 
We trifle time in words. Ford, Broken Heart, v. 2. 
The scarcest of all (medals) is a Pescennlus Niger on a 
medallion well preserved. It was coined at Antloch, 
where this emperor trifled away his time till he lost his 
life and empire. 
Addimn, Remarks on Italy (Works, ed. Bohn, I. 604). 
3. To utter or perform lightly or carelessly. 
She used him for her sport, like what he was, to trifle a 
leisure sentence or two with. Lamb, Old Actors. 
4. To reduce to a trifle ; make trivial or of no 
importance. [Bare.] 
This sore night 
Hath trifled former knowings. 
Shalt., Macbeth, II. 4. 4. 
trifler (tri'fler), n. [< ME. trifler, tryfler, trif- 
flmir, < OF. "trufflour, < truffler, jest, mock : 
see trifle.'] One who trifles; especially, a shal- 
low, light-minded, or flippant person ; an idler. 
" A ! Peres," quath y tho, "y pray the, thou me telle 
More of thlse tryflers, hou trechurly the! llbbeth." 
Piers Plowman's Crtde (E. E. T. S.X 1. 476. 
1 he Agows knew well that they were In the hands of 
one who was no trifler. Bruce, Source of the Nile, 1I.M- 
trifle-ring (tri'fl-ring), . A ring having Home 
hidden iin><>lianisni or play of parts, us a gim- 
mrl-ring. pii7./.l--riii";, or<n;i> composed of three 
or more lumps working on pivots. 
trifling (tri'fling). w. [< ME trijlimi, 'Irnfliiin, 
ln>iifli/iii/; verbal n. of trifle, r.] The act >>r 
conduct of one who trifles, in any sense. 
He returned his answer by a letter dated at Crogh the 
thlrtlth of October, 1678, vslng therein nothing but rri- 
flimjH and delates. 
StanOnatt, Chron. of Ireland, an. 1579 (Hnllnihed's 
M'hion., I.X 
Presumptuous dallylngs, or Impertinent trifling! with 
God. Barrow, Sermons, I. xxxl. 
trifling (tri'tling), p. a. [Ppr. of trifle, v.~\ 1. 
Inclined to trifle ; lacking depth or earnestness ; 
shallow; frivolous; idle; vain. 
His serious impassioned look . . . was so completely 
sincere and true that her trifling nature was impressed In 
spite of everything. 
Mrs. OKphant, Poor Gentleman, xxxvl. 
2. Trivial; unimportant; insignificant; slight : 
small. 
My Arab Insisted to attend me thither, and, npon his 
arrival, I made some trifling presents, and then took my 
leave. Bruce, Source of the Nile, I. 64. 
3. Good-for-nothing; worthless; mean. [South- 
ern and western U. 8.] 
A person mean enough to "take the law onio" his 
neighbor was accounted too "triflin"' to be respectable. 
E. E'jgUston, The Graysons, ill. 
trifiingly (tri'fling-li), adr. In a trifling man- 
ner; with levity; without seriousness or dignity, 
triflingness (tri'fling-nes), n. Tho state or 
character of being trifling. 
The triflinynea and petulancy of this scruple I have rep- 
resented upon its own proper principles. 
Bp. Farter, Rehears. Transp., p. S9. (Jtichardion.) 
trifloral (tri-flo'ral), a. [< L. tree (tri-), three, 
+ flos (flor-), flower, 4- -a/.] In hot., same as 
triflorous. 
triflorous (tri-flo'rus), a. [<L. tres(tri-), three, 
+ flos (flor-), flower, + -oiw.] Three-flowered ; 
bearing three flowers : as, a triflorous peduncle. 
trifluctuationt (tri-fluk-tu-a'shon), n. [< L. 
trey (tri-), three, + fluctuatio(n-), fluctuation.] 
A concurrence of three waves. 
The Greeks, to express the greatest ware, do use the 
number of three, that is, the word rptxv^ia, which Is a con- 
currence of three waves in one, whence arose the proverb 
rpiKupia KOXWP, or a trifluctuation of evils, which Erasmus 
doth render malorum fluctus decumanus. 
Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., vil. 17. 
trifold (tri'fold), a. [< L. tree (tri-), three, + 
-fold."] Threefold; triple; triune. 
trifolia (tri-fo'li-ii), . [< L. tres (tri-), three, 
+ folium, leaf.] A curve of the eighth order 
whose equation is Cr 3 = (sin } 0) 2 . 
trifoliate (tri-fo'li-at), a. [< L. tres (tri-), three. 
+ foliatits, leaved, ^ folium, a leaf. Cf . trefoil. ] 
Having three leaves ; trefoil ; specifically, in 
hot. , having three leaves or leaflets : used chief- 
ly, in the latter sense, of compound leaves, as a 
shortened form of trifoliolate. See cut d under 
leaf. 
trifoliated (tri-fo'li-a-ted), a. [< trifoliate + 
-*<f 2 .] Same as trifoliate. 
Silver beaker, the base trifoliated. 
South Kensington Cat. Spec. Ex., No. 480S. 
TrifoliesB (tri-fo-H'e-e), . pi. [NL. (Bronn, 
1822), < Trifolitim -.] A tribe of legumi- 
nous plants, of the suborder Papilionacex. It Is 
characterized by usually trifoliate leaves minutely toothed 
by the projection of their straight excurrent veins, by 
flowers usually borne in a head or raceme on an axillary 
peduncle, and by an ovary with two or more ovules, form- 
ing In fruit an unjolnted two-valved or small and Indehls- 
cent pod. The 6 genera are chiefly herbs of north tem- 
perate regions, Trifolium (the type) including the clovers. 
.See also Melttotut, Medieago, Tngonelia, Ononit, and Pan- 
chetus. 
trifoliolate (tri-fo'li-o-lat), a. [< L. tres (tri-), 
three, + NL. foliolatiis, foliolate.] In bot., hav- 
ing three leaflets: more commonly trifoliate. 
Trifolium (tri-fo'li-um), n. [NL. (Kivinus, 
1691 ; earlier in Brunfels, 1530), < L. trifoliiim, 
trefoil/ tre(<ri-),three,+/oni,leaf : aoefoil 1 . 
Cf. trifoly, trefoil, trefle.'] A genus of legumi- 
nous plants, type of the tribe Trifoliese, and in- 
cluding most of the plants commonly known as 
clover. It Is characterized by usually withering-persis- 
tent petals, all, or the lower ones, adnate at the base, or 
higher, to the stamen tube, and by a usually indehlsccnt 
membranous legume Included within the persistent keel- 
petals or calyx. About 300 species have been described, 
of which about 170 are now thought distinct They are 
abundant in north temperate and subtropical regions ; a 
few occur on mountains within the tropics in America, or 
beyond In Africa and South America. They are herbs, 
usually with digitate leaves of three leaflets, or rarely 
more; in 3 perennial species of the Sierra Nevada, with 
triform 
flve tnseren leaflet*. In IS or more species, the *,U.. n 
CAnmovnuum the arrangement ,,i tin- three leaflets U 
pinnate. Their stipules are consplcuoua, adn.it> 
petioles, and often large ;in.l \>ii,j .-|-ii.ill> in T.nra- 
toue and in tti< < ':t)ifiiii.ui nitiv t>i't>-r-i'):tnt T.ftica- 
tntit. Tin- tln > i ^ ;in- ><!, |>nrpliHh, wliiti-, or yr!l>.H . 
sometimes the same flower i-iinililni> two colon, as white 
and rose-color In T. tiybri>i<>u< !!> <niiootil> change 
to tirown In fading; in brown clover, T. nadiefum 
are brown from the nrst. They form a lieu. I or ilcn 
or raceme - rarely umbellate, as In 7*. Lupinaittr, < 
tary, as In 7 A group peculiar to western 
parts of North anil South Ann-lira, with II ppeclett In 
California, Is remarkable for its Involiierate heads. Many 
species are among the most valuable of fodder-plants, espe- 
cially T. pratentc, red clover, and T. repent, white 
Among more locally cultivated species, T. affrarium, yel- 
low clover, is valued for sandy soils: T. ytrUum, tin- 
alslke, for wet place* ; T. rrflrj-mii, tin Mutiil..-, lover of 
the central I'nlted States, for alluvial land; and T. incur- 
iiatuni, the carnation, crimson, or Italian clover, for gyp- 
sum region*. T. Alexandrininri is the herein rl\er. in IK h 
grown in Egypt, producing three crops a season, and fur- 
nishing the principal fodder. T. subrotundum Is the 
ma) ad clover, cultivated In northern and central parts of 
Africa. For the species In general, see etmxr. trefoil and 
thamrock ; for other*, He toM-taioMT, strawberry-dmtr, 
huv-trrjuil, Ivpinatter, inountainJieoriee, jnirpU-jnm, me- 
grast, and running tnifalo-dooer (under running). 
trifoly (tri'fo-li), n. [< L. trifiiliiiin. tlirce-leaved 
grass: see trefoil.] Trefoil. [Obsolete or ar- 
chaic.] 
She was crowned with a chaplet of trifoly. 
B. Jonton, King James's Coronation Entertainment. 
Braid moonfern now with mystic trifoly. 
Browning, Sordello, III. 
Sea-trifolyt, the sea-milkwort. Glaux maritima. Sour 
trifolyt, the wood-sorrel, Oialit AeetottUa. Britten and 
Holland. 
Triforidse (tri-for'i-de), n. ]>l. [NL., < Triforis 
+ -/</.] A family of tsenioglossate gastropods, 
typified by the genus Triforix, and characterized 
by the radular teeth, the central and lateral 
being very short, wide, and multicuspid, and 
the marginal small. The shell Is like that of the 
Cerithiida, but Is almost always sinlstral, and has pecu- 
liarities of the aperture. The numerous specie* are of 
small size. 
Triforis (tri'fo-ris), . [NL. (Deshayes, 1824), 
< tres (tri-), three, +fori, a door, opening.] A 
genus of gastropods, typical of the family 7K- 
foridjf, with the siphonal canal closed except 
at the end, and with a small subsutural tubular 
opening these, together with the mouth, form- 
ing three apertures. 
triforiom (tri-fo'ri-um), n. ; pi. triforia (-&). [< 
ML. triforiiim, < L. tres (tri-), three, + foris, a 
door, opening: see door.) In medieval arch., a 
gallery above the arches of the nave and choir, 
Triforium. ijth century, at Saint Leu d'EsKient, France. 
(From Violfct-lc Duc' " Diet dc fArchtUcrtire.") 
and often of the transepts, of a church, general- 
ly in the form of an arcade. Galleries of the tame 
kind existed in several of the ancient basilica*. The name 
is often Inappropriate, as the triple opening which It Im- 
plies Is far from being a general characteristic of the tri- 
forlnm. In many churches built after the middle of the 
thirteenth century the triforiiim appears merely as a nar- 
row passage for communication, with broad window* be- 
hind It, and Is so treated that it forms practically a con- 
tinuation of the clearstory above; but In large churches 
built earlier than that date, as the Cathedral of Paris, It is 
very frequently spacious, and affords additional room for 
the assembled people. See alto cuts under toy, Uind-ttory, 
and clearstory. 
triform (tri'fdrm), a. [= F. triforme = Sp. Pg. 
It. triforme, < L. triformin, having three forma, 
