Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A braid, especially of hair.
  • noun A pleat.
  • transitive verb To braid.
  • transitive verb To pleat.
  • transitive verb To make by braiding.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To fold; double in narrow strips: as, to plait a gown or a sleeve. See plaiting and box-plaiting.
  • To braid; interweave the locks or strands of: as, to plait the hair.
  • To mat; felt.
  • To twist; twine.
  • noun A flattened gather or fold; an over-lapping fold made by doubling cloth or some similar fabric in narrow strips upon itself.
  • noun A braid, as of hair, straw, etc.
  • noun Rope-yarn strands braided into sennit.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To fold; to double in narrow folds; to pleat.
  • transitive verb To interweave the strands or locks of; to braid; to plat
  • noun A flat fold; a doubling, as of cloth; a pleat.
  • noun A braid, as of hair or straw; a plat.
  • noun (Med.) Same as Plica.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A flat fold; a doubling, as of cloth; a pleat; as, a box plait.
  • noun A braid, as of hair or straw; a plat.
  • verb transitive To fold; to double in narrow folds; to pleat; as, to plait a ruffle.
  • verb transitive To interweave the strands or locks of; to braid; to plat; as, to plait hair; to plait rope.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb make by braiding or interlacing
  • verb weave into plaits
  • noun a hairdo formed by braiding or twisting the hair
  • noun any of various types of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and then pressing or stitching into shape

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English pleit, fold, braid, possibly from pleiten, to fold, braid, alteration (influenced by Old French pleit, fold) of Old French plier, pleiir, from Latin plicāre, to fold; see plek- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French pleit, from Latin plecto, which is akin to Old Norse flétta (Danish flette) and to Russian сплетать.

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Examples

  • In each iteration, the plait is copied, and a transformation is applied.

    Boing Boing: February 19, 2006 - February 25, 2006 Archives 2006

  • The stitch shown in fig. 69, known as plait or Cretan, is commonly seen on Cretan and other Eastern embroideries.

    Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving Grace Christie

  • Now, whoever she was with, there was always one as well, she was never alone now, not in the street, not at home; of this the plait was the sacred symbol.

    The Bridal March; One Day Bj��rnstjerne Bj��rnson 1871

  • Jeanine is about to "plait" or braid Suzy's hair when we get back from town. ill be sure to post pics :

    S’more pics! 2009

  • Here it was that he discovered that her wrists were bound together behind her back with a kind of plait of thongs so intricate that he was quite unable to release them.

    Lore of Proserpine Maurice Hewlett 1892

  • The lively old woman was sitting close against her bit of fire, on her left a small deal table which held her cold potatoes and cold bacon; on her right a tiny window and window-sill whereon lay her coil of "plait" and the simple straw-splitting machine she had just been working.

    Marcella Humphry Ward 1885

  • -- When the vertical stitches are laid, a kind of plait is formed in the following way.

    Encyclopedia of Needlework Th��r��se de Dillmont 1868

  • "Musshoo, s'il vous plait, which is la direction pour aller à le Palais

    Behind the Beyond and Other Contributions to Human Knowledge Stephen Leacock 1906

  • "Musshoo, s'il vous plait, which is la direction pour aller à Thomas

    Behind the Beyond and Other Contributions to Human Knowledge Stephen Leacock 1906

  • I smiled when I saw her, one plait loose and the other still held in place with a ribbon, proof of all the mischief in the school bus.

    I miss watching the kids grow up Anjali 2009

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