"Cinquefoil" in the "Middle English Dictionary" is described as "Pentafilon – from Greek "Pentaphyllon" – influenced by foil, a leaf. The European cinquefoil ("Potentilla reptans"), often used medicinally." The word is derived from Old French "cinc", Middle English "cink" and ultimately Latin "quinque" – all meaning "five" –, and "feuille" and "foil/foille" which mean "leaf". Formerly this term referred to five-leaved plants in general. In medieval times, the word "cinquefoil" was used almost exclusively in England. In France, the genus was called "quintefeuille", first attested in Normandy and Brittany in the 11th century.