plait

American  

[pleyt, plat] / pleɪt, plæt /

noun

1. a braid, especially of hair or straw.

2. a pleat or fold, as of cloth.

---

verb (used with object)

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

---

verb

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

Other Word Forms

• interplait verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of plait

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

Example Sentences

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

From Salon • Nov. 22, 2023

Boys play marbles with rounded pebbles or guava stones; girls plait skipping ropes from the long grass at the edge of the village.

From The Guardian • Aug. 10, 2019

Yes, the woman with the curled blonde plait.

From BBC • Feb. 23, 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

She touched one with a bare foot, as if the plait were some sort of unknown animal.

From "The Devil's Arithmetic" by Jane Yolen