Braid

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɹeɪd/
• Rhymes: -eɪd

From Middle English braiden, breiden, bræiden, from Old English breġdan ("to move quickly, pull, shake, swing, throw (wrestling), draw (sword), drag; bend, weave, braid, knit, join together; change color, vary, be transformed; bind, knot; move, be pulled; flash"), from Proto-Germanic *bregdaną ("to flicker, flutter, jerk, tug, twitch, flinch, move, swing"), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrēḱ-, *bʰrēǵ- ("to shine, shimmer"). Cognate with Scots brade, braid ("to move quickly or suddenly"), West Frisian breidzje, Dutch breien ("to knit"), Low German breiden, Bavarian bretten ("to move quickly, twitch"), Icelandic bregða ("to move quickly, jerk").

Alternative forms

• brayde obsolete, breyde obsolete

Full definition of braid

Verb

1. (obsolete, transitive) To make a sudden movement with, to jerk.
2. (archaic, intransitive) To start into motion.
3. (transitive) To weave together, intertwine (strands of fibers, ribbons, etc.); to arrange (hair) in braids.
• MiltonBraid your locks with rosy twine.
4. To mix, or make uniformly soft, by beating, rubbing, or straining, as in preparing food.
5. (obsolete) To reproach; to upbraid.

Noun

1. (obsolete) A sudden movement; a jerk, a wrench. 11th-17th c.
• 1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book XII:And than in a brayde Sir Launcelot brake hys chaynes of hys legges and of hys armys (and in the brakynge he hurte hys hondys sore) ...
2. A weave of three or more strands of fibers, ribbons, cords or hair often for decoration. from 16th c.
3. A fancy; freak; caprice.

Adjective

1. (obsolete) deceitful
• ShakespeareSince Frenchmen are so braid,
  Marry that will, I live and die a maid.

Anagrams

• rabid