In the United States, people say braid, while plait is used in the United Kingdom.
In this word confusion I just had to find out if “a braid could be pleated” and not plaited.
It does make sense that plait and pleat would be confused since pleat evolved from plait.
Today’s distinction is that plait is woven together whereas pleat is a type of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and securing it in place.
Plait is a noun and a verb that weaves hair, rope, straw, and more into a braided cord or mat.
Pleat (also a noun and a verb) “is a [timeless and versatile] textile technique that involves folding fabric back and forth in a uniform manner to create a pattern of parallel ridges and valleys”.
“Used to make garments more comfortable and functional”, pleats have been used throughout history from ancient Egypt to the Middle Ages and into the twentieth century by designers such as Mariano Fortuny and Issey Miyake.
Credit to: History
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Plait | Pleat |
|---|---|
Warkocz Braid is Jacek Proszyk‘s own work and is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — A braid is a plait, is a plait, is a braid. Well, depending upon your nationality. |
Elvis’ Pool Room by Peter Burka is under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license, via Flickr. — The ceiling in Graceland’s pool room is a tent of radiating fabric with pleats. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun; Verb, transitive
Plural for the noun: plaits Third person present verb: plaits |
Noun; Verb, transitive
Plural for the noun: pleats Third person present verb: pleats |
| Noun: A single length of hair or other flexible material made up of three or more interlaced strands
[British; Cookery] A loaf of bread of several twisting or intertwining parts Verb, transitive:
To make, as a mat, by braiding To pleat |
Noun: A double or multiple fold in a garment or other item made of cloth, held by stitching the top or side Something resembling this, as a crease or mark Verb, transitive: |
| Examples: | |
| Noun: Her plait of hair hung down to her waist. She plaited a combination of embroidery floss and ribbon to make the cord for the tassel. She wears her hair in plaits. Her dress was plaited all down the front. Challah, a special bread of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, is created using plaits of dough. Verb, transitive: She plaited her hair. She plaited three strips of leather to make a belt. She made a basket plaited from strips of flax. “Swinging his scythe just as ever, and moving his feet in their big, plaited shoes with firm, little steps, he climbed slowly up the steep place, and though his breeches hanging out below his smock, and his whole frame trembled with effort, he did not miss one blade of grass or one mushroom on his way, and kept making jokes with the peasants and Levin” (Tolstoy, pt 3, ch 5). He watched, fascinated, as she plaited the strips of dough into a loaf. “This upper robe concealed what at first view seemed rather inconsistent with its form, a shirt, namely, of linked mail, with sleeves and gloves of the same, curiously plaited and interwoven, as flexible to the body as those which are now wrought in the stocking-loom, out of less obdurate materials ” (Scott, ch 2). |
Noun: The dress had box pleats. The designer had made excellent use of sunburst pleats in the bodice. There was a row of starched pleats on her cap. Her cheek was a mass of pleats. Verb, transitive: Take up the excess cloth by pleating it. Their skirts were pleated behind and on each side, with other skirts hanging over them. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Verb: interplait | Adjective: pleated Noun: pleater |
| History of the Word: | |
| Late Middle English from the Old French pleit meaning a fold, based on the Latin plicare meaning 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. | Late Middle English, 1325–75, in a variant of plait.
The written form of the word became obsolete between c. 1700 and the end of the 19th century. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
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Resources for Plait versus Pleat
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Apple Dictionary.com
Dictionary.com: plait
The Free Dictionary: pleat
“History of Pleats.” Wild Cosmos.com. n.d. Accessed 3 Dec 2023. <https://wildcosmos.com/pages/pleats-bloom>.
Scott, Sir Walter. Ivanhoe. Originally published 1820. Wordsworth Editions Ltd, 1998. <https://amzn.to/3tb0cUC>. Print.
Tolstoy, Leo. Anna Karenina. Originally published 1878. Digireads.com Publishing, 2015. <https://amzn.to/3t2R7xg>. Ebook.
Pinterest Photo Credits
Fashion Plate, 1860, is a lithograph by Jules David and is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons and courtesy of The Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine.
