plait

See also: plaît

English

A box plait with a piped edge at the top.

A person's hair in a long plait.

Etymology

From Middle English pleit, from Anglo-Norman pleit (compare Old French ploit), from Latin plectō, which is akin to Old Norse flétta (Danish flette) and to Russian сплетать (spletatʹ). Doublet of plight (“plait, fold”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pleɪt/, /plæt/

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• Homophones: plate, plat
• Rhymes: -æt
• Rhymes: -eɪt

Noun

plait (plural plaits)

1. A flat fold; a doubling, as of cloth; a pleat.

   a box plait

   • 1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

     the plaits and foldings of the drapery

2. A braid, as of hair or straw; a plat.

Related terms

• pleat

Translations

flat fold

• Catalan: dobleg (ca) m
• Finnish: taite (fi), vekki (fi)
• French: pli (fr) m
• German: Falte (de) f
• Italian: piega (it) f, pieghettatura f, plissettatura (it) f
• Portuguese: dobra (pt) f, prega (pt) f
• Romanian: pliu (ro) n, fald (ro) n
• Russian: скла́дка (ru) f (skládka)
• Spanish: pliegue (es) m

braid — see braid

Further reading

• Plait in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Verb

plait (third-person singular simple present plaits, present participle plaiting, simple past and past participle plaited)

1. (transitive) To fold; to double in narrow folds; to pleat

   to plait a ruffle

2. (transitive) To interweave the strands or locks of; to braid

   to plait hair

   plaiting rope

   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars:

     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 frock that covered them.

Translations

to double in narrow folds — see pleat

to interweave — see braid

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} plekti (eo)

Anagrams

• Patil, Pilat, lapti

French

Verb

plait

1. post-1990 spelling of plaît (third-person singular present indicative of plaire)

Anagrams

• pilât, pliât

Middle English

Etymology

From Old French plait, plet.

Noun

plait (plural plaits)

1. Alternative form of ple

Old French

Alternative forms

• plai
• plaid
• plaist
• plee
• pleit
• plet

Etymology

From Latin placitum (“decree”).

Noun

plait m (oblique plural plaiz or plaitz, nominative singular plaiz or plaitz, nominative plural plait)

1. agreement
2. argument; dispute
3. court (of law)
4. plea; ask; demand

Related terms

• plaidier

Descendants

• French: plaid
• → Middle English: plait
  • English: plea
  • Scots: plaid

References

• Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IX^e au XV^e siècle (1881) (plait)
• plai on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub