a carved ornament in the form of a ball enclosed by the three petals of a circular flower
ballflower in American English
(ˈbɔlˌflauər)
noun
Architecture
a medieval English ornament suggesting a flower of three or four petals enclosing and partly concealing a ball
Word origin
[1835–45; ball1 + flower]This word is first recorded in the period 1835–45. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: faceplate, grandstand, hot plate, hybridize, protein