1. plĕcto, xi and xŭi, xum, 3, v. a. [root plek-; Gr. πλέκω, πλοκή; Lat. plicin sim-plic-is, im-plic-o, etc.; cf. 3. plaga].
- I. To plait, braid, interweave (rare; mostly in the part. perf. and poet.; not in Cic. or Cæs.; syn.: plico, flecto, necto].
- A. Lit.: crines plexueris, Vulg. Judic. 16, 13: coronam de spinis, id. Matt. 27, 29: plexa colligata significat ex Graeco, cui nos etiam praepositionem adicimus, cum dicimus perplexa, Fest. p. 230 Müll.: plexae coronae, Lucr. 5, 1399: flores plexi, Cat. 64, 284: colligationes, Vitr. 10, 1.
- B. Trop.: ple-xus, a, um, P. a., involved, intricate, entangled, ambiguous (ante-class.): plexa, non falsa autumare dictio Delphis solet, Pac. ap. Non. 237, 4.
- M. To twist, bend, turn: monstrabat vitulus quo se pacto plecteret, Phaedr. 5, 9, 3 dub. (al. flecteret).