- plait (v.)
- late 14c., "to fold, gather in pleats," from O.Fr. pleir "to fold," from L. plicare "to fold." The noun meaning "a fold, a crease" is attested from c.1400, from Anglo-Fr. pleit, O.Fr. pleit, ploit "fold, manner of folding," from L. plicatus, neuter pp. of plicare (see ply (v.)). Meaning "interlaced strands of hair, ribbon, etc." is from 1520s.