/pleɪt/, /plæt/
OriginFrom Middle English pleit, from Anglo-Norman pleit (compare Old French ploit), from Latin plectō, which is akin to Old Norse flétta (Danish flette), Russian плести́ (plestí) and also to Old English fleohtan, which it displaced. Doublet of plight (“plait, fold”) and pleat.
- A flat fold; a doubling, as of cloth; a pleat.
“a box plait”
“the plaits and foldings of the drapery”
- A braid, as of hair or straw; a plat.
“Only the hair as it arched so beautifully from her temples was mixed with silver, and the two simple plaits that lay on her shoulders were filigree of silver and brown.”
- transitiveTo fold; to double in narrow folds; to pleat
- transitiveTo interweave the strands or locks of; to braid
“to plait hair”
“plaiting rope”
“Her abundant hair, of a dark and glossy brown, was neatly plaited and coiled above an ivory column that rose straight from a pair of gently sloping shoulders, clearly outlined beneath the light muslin”
Formsplaits(plural) · plaits(present, singular, third-person) · plaiting(participle, present) · plaited(participle, past) · plaited(past)