# ply

> English word · Noun · IPA /plaɪ/ · frequency rank #23,946

## Definitions
1. A layer of material.
2. A strand that, twisted together with other strands, makes up rope or yarn.
3. Clipping of plywood.
4. In two-player sequential games, a "half-turn" or a move made by one of the players.
5. A condition, a state.

## Etymology
From Middle English pleit, plit, plite (“a fold, pleat, wrinkle; braid, strand in a braided cord, ply”), from Anglo-Norman pli, plei, pleit, and Middle French pli, ploy, ply (“a fold, pleat; joint in armour; situation, state”) (modern French pli (“a fold, pleat”)), from plier, ployer (“to bend, fold”), from plicāre (“to bend, fold, roll up”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to fold, plait, weave”).

## Easily confused with
- **PM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-pm)
- **PP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-pp)
- **PR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-pr)
- **pt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-pt)
- **PS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-ps)
- **po** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-po)
- **PU** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-pu)
- **PV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-pv)
- **PW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-pw)
- **PX** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-px)
- **put** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-put)
- **pro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-pro)
- **pop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-pop)
- **pot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-pot)
- **pub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-pub)
- **pod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-pod)
- **pos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-pos)
- **ppl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-ppl)
- **pup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-pup)
- **Poe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ply-vs-poe)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ply