plait

American  

[pleyt, plat] / pleɪt, plæt /

noun

• plaits
  plural

1. a braid, especially of hair or straw.

2. a pleat or fold, as of cloth.

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verb (used with object)

• plaits,
  present (3rd person singular)
• plaited,
  past participle,  past
• plaiting
  present participle

1. to braid, as hair or straw.

2. to make, as a mat, by braiding.

3. to pleat.

plait British  

/ plæt /

noun

1. a length of hair, ribbon, etc, that has been plaited

2. (in Britain) a loaf of bread of several twisting or intertwining parts

3. a rare spelling of pleat

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verb

1. (tr) to intertwine (strands or strips) in a pattern

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• interplait
  verb (used with object)

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• plaits
  plural

Participles

• plaiting
  present
• plaited
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• plait
  simple
• plaits
  simple
• have plaited
  perfect
• has plaited
  perfect
• am plaiting
  progressive
• are plaiting
  progressive
• is plaiting
  progressive
• have been plaiting
  perfect progressive
• has been plaiting
  perfect progressive

Past

• plaited
  simple
• had plaited
  perfect
• was plaiting
  progressive
• were plaiting
  progressive
• had been plaiting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will plait
  simple
• will have plaited
  perfect
• will be plaiting
  progressive
• will have been plaiting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of plait

1350–1400; Middle English pleyt < Middle French pleit < Latin plicitum, neuter of plicitus, past participle of plicāre to fold; see ply ²

Explanation

You might get an odd look if you ask your hairdresser to put your hair in a plait, but she’ll eventually figure out what you want: a braid. Plait, which sounds the same as plate, feels a bit like it’s from a bygone era, though the word is still in use today. A woman wearing a hairstyle with plaits might be on her way to meet Lord Something-or-Other, in the hopes of receiving a marriage proposal. Meanwhile, someone wearing a braided hairdo might be preparing for a night on the town or just a trip to the grocery store.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

plait plaits plaited plaiting

For the unaware, that classic acronym comes from the French phrase Répondez s'il vous plait.

From Salon ● Nov. 22, 2023

The moment finally came after riding hard and alone for 80 breathless kilometres, her French plait swinging in the cold autumnal breeze.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2021

Sisters from El Salvador plait one another’s hair; men from Cameroon await an asylum hearing on the far side.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 12, 2019

She stood about four and a half feet tall and liked to keep her hair shoulder length, in a plait, her grandfather said.

From New York Times ● Jan. 11, 2019

I can weave and spin, or plait matting, but there is no money for spindle, cotton or fibre.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

Bell is living up to the potential that she promised as a tall, ambitious teenager, boasting those trademark plaits and an infectious love of the game.

From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2024

Education Minister Nyan Gadsby Dolly called for new rules that would allow students to wear Afros, locks, twists, plaits and cornrows, which are called canerows in the Caribbean in reference to sugarcane.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2023

They specified that the ban on discrimination includes natural Afro hairstyles, braids, cornrows, plaits and head coverings.

From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 2022

We don't bother with complicated eight-strand plaits or intricate rounds, and instead opt for a classic three-strand braid.

From Salon ● Mar. 13, 2022

Rosaleen’s hair was done up in perfect cornrow plaits, which I guessed May had done for her after supper.

From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

Elsewhere in Haute Couture Week, Puerto Rican music star Bad Bunny sat front row for the Schiaparelli show in a pastel yellow-coloured suit and a tie of plaited golden strands.

From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026

The young millennial rocked different hairstyles and loved switching it up: a curly Afro one week, two-strand twists the next, micro plaited braids and a range of cornrow designs.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 19, 2024

"My mam plaits it in two plaits so it goes directly between my spine... She has always plaited my hair since so it's kind of a tradition now."

From BBC ● Nov. 18, 2024

This week, the bakers are instructed to make a plaited bread centerpiece.

From Salon ● Oct. 14, 2023

Her freckled face was flushed, her eyes bright in the frame of dark lashes, her hair plaited into a thick shiny braid that hung down the left side of her neck.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns

It takes a willingness to understand and honor the hairstyle's origins and what that plaiting symbolizes to accept that not everybody should flaunt it.

From Salon ● May 2, 2025

With those scraps, she made a handful of purses and small pouches using techniques including plaiting, macramé and sashiko, a form of Japanese embroidery.

From New York Times ● Dec. 19, 2022

“It is less risky if we go as a group,” she said while plaiting her friend’s hair.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 9, 2022

John Frieda Frizz Ease Clearly Defined Gel was Aspiras' go-to while plaiting the two side braids, which he secured with clear elastics.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2018

I’m always fooling with my hair, plaiting it, unplaiting it, a nervous habit of mine that’s gotten worse here.

From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez