plaid
/plæd/noun, adjective
plaid is spelled P-L-A-I-D: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, plaid means “A type of twilled woollen cloth, often with a tartan or chequered pattern” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of plaid is plaids.
How many letters and syllables are in plaid?
| Letters | 5: P-L-A-I-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.1 times per million words; the 18,811th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is plaid?
Plaid appears 2.1 times per million words in written English, the 18,811th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce plaid?
- /pled/
- /plad/
- US /plæd/
Plaid has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-plaid.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with plaid?
10 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as plaid from its last stressed vowel (/æd/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of plaid
- plaids plural
- more plaid comparative
- most plaid superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does plaid mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A type of twilled woollen cloth, often with a tartan or chequered pattern.
- 2
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.
- 3
The typical chequered pattern of a plaid; tartan.
adjective
- 1
Having a pattern or colors which resemble a Scottish tartan; checkered or marked with bars or stripes at right angles to one another.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Plaid in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tissu écossais , plaid , motif écossais |
| Spanish | tela escocesa , cuadros escoceses, cuadrillé |
| German | Plaid, Schulerdecke, Umhangtuch , Schottenstoff, Schottenmuster |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does plaid come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).