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”).

noun

1. A flat fold; a doubling, as of cloth; a pleat.
   a box plait
2. A braid, as of hair or straw; a plat.

verb

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