plaid
/plæd/ noun, adjective
Forms plaids
- noun (textiles) A type of twilled woollen cloth, often with a tartan or chequered pattern.
- noun A length of such material used as a piece of clothing, formerly worn in the Scottish Highlands and other parts of northern Britain and remaining as an item of ceremonial dress worn by members of Scottish pipe bands.
- noun The typical chequered pattern of a plaid; tartan.
- adjective Having a pattern or colors which resemble a Scottish tartan; checkered or marked with bars or stripes at right angles to one another.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Scots plaid, of uncertain origin; perhaps from a past participle form of ply. Scottish Gaelic plaide (“blanket”) is probably a borrowing from Scots.
Also compare Scottish Gaelic peall (“covering, veil, blanket”) << Latin pellis (“hide, covering”), but the OED finds the sound changes problematic.
Alternative forms.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A rectangular garment or piece of cloth, usually made of the checkered material called tartan, but sometimes of plain gray, or gray with black stripes. It is worn by both sexes in Scotland.
- noun Goods of any quality or material of the pattern of a plaid or tartan; a checkered cloth or pattern.
- adjective Having a pattern or colors which resemble a Scotch plaid; checkered or marked with bars or stripes at right angles to one another; as, plaid muslin.
Etymology [Gael. plaide a blanket or plaid, contr. fr. peallaid a sheepskin, fr. peall a skin or hide. CF. Pillion.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “plaid”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details