plait (v.)

late 14c., pleiten, "to fold (something), gather in pleats, double in narrow strips," also "to braid or weave (something)," from plait (n.) and also from Old French pleir "to fold," variant of ploier, ployer "to fold, bend," from Latin plicare "to fold" (from PIE root *plek- "to plait"). Related: Plaited; plaiting.

late 14c., pleit, "a fold, a crease, a flattened gather made by doubling cloth or similar fabric in narrow strips upon itself," also "interlaced strands of hair," from Anglo-French pleit, Old French ploit, earlier pleit, "fold, manner of folding," from Latin plicatus, past participle of plicare "to lay, fold, twist" (from PIE root *plek- "to plait").