(Brit.)a single length of hair, straw, rope, or other material made up of three or more interlaced strands (英)发辫;草辫;辫状物 ■archaic term for pleat (古)。 同 pleat
verb
[with obj.]form (hair, straw, rope, or other material) into a plait or plaits 把(头发、草、绳等)编成辫状 ■make (something) by forming material into a plait or plaits (用编辫方式)编制
语源
late Middle English: from Old French pleit 'a fold', based on Latin plicare 'to fold'. The word was formerly also pronounced like ‘plate’; since late Middle English there has been an alternative spelling plat, to which the current pronunciation corresponds