What does plaiting mean?
Plaiting means interlacing strands, usually hair, plant fibers, thread, or similar flexible materials, to make a braid, woven band, or decorative pattern. As a noun, it can refer either to the activity or to the finished result; as a present participle, it describes someone or something performing that activity. The word is especially associated with hair styling and traditional crafts, giving it a practical, traditional, and sometimes craft-oriented tone. In contemporary English, “braiding” is more common in general conversation, while “plaiting” remains useful when the interlacing process itself is being emphasized. The related verb “plait” takes the same meaning, and the word occurs in both British and American English. Its history also connects it to the broader family of English words derived from Latin plicare, “to fold or intertwine,” including “pleat,” “plicate,” and “plication.”
The act of interlacing strands to make a braid, band, or decorative pattern; also the finished braid or woven work.
"The museum offers workshops in the plaiting of willow and reed."
The noun is normally used uncountably for the process, though “plaitings” can refer to distinct finished examples.
Present participle and gerund of “plait”: to interlace strands into a braid or decorative pattern.
"Two students were plaiting strips of colored fabric together."
This form is frequently used with hair, thread, plant fibers, and similar materials.
Rare; “plaiting” is normally used as an uncountable noun.
"The collection includes several decorative plaitings of straw."
One Latin root, many woven results: plicare, meaning “to fold or intertwine,” survives in English words ranging from plaits to pleats.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does plaiting come from?
Plaiting was formed in English from “plait,” a medieval borrowing from Old French plait, meaning a fold or braid and functioning as the past participle of “plier.” Old French plier came from Latin plicare, “to fold, bend, or intertwine,” and the Latin participial form plicatus underlies the French word. The same Latin root is preserved in English cognates and derivatives such as “pleat,” “plicate,” and “plication.”
Related word forms
How plaiting is actually used
Plaiting is common in craft, salon, and historical contexts, although “braiding” is often more natural in everyday speech. In British English, “plait” is a common noun for a braid of hair, while “braid” is the usual everyday term in American English.
Easily confused with plaiting
Plaiting interlaces strands into a braid, whereas a pleat is a fold pressed or sewn into fabric.