plait

 
Pronunciation: /plat/

noun

  • 1British a single length of hair, straw, rope, or other material made up of three or more interlaced strands: she wore her dark hair in plaits

verb

[with object]
  • form (hair, straw, rope, or other material) into a plait or plaits: her hair had been plaited and coiled at the back of her head
  • make (something) by forming material into a plait or plaits: a basket plaited from strips of flax

Origin:

late Middle English: from Old French pleit 'a fold', based on Latin plicare 'to fold'. The word was formerly often pronounced like ‘plate’; since late Middle English there has been an alternative spelling plat, to which the current pronunciation corresponds