Pattern vs Plaid - What's the difference?

As nouns the difference between pattern and plaid

is that pattern is model, example while plaid is a type of twilled woollen cloth, often with a tartan or chequered pattern.

As verbs the difference between pattern and plaid

is that pattern is to apply a pattern while plaid is past tense of play.

As an adjective plaid is

having a pattern or colors which resemble a Scottish tartan; checkered or marked with bars or stripes at right angles to one another.

pattern

English

(wikipedia pattern)

Noun

(en noun)

Model, example.

# Something from which a copy is made; a model or outline.

#* 1923 , ‘President Wilson’, Time , 18 Jun 1923:

There is no reason why all colleges and universities should be cut to the same pattern .

# Someone or something seen as an example to be imitated; an exemplar.

#* 1946 , Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy , I.16:

The Platonic Socrates was a pattern to subsequent philosophers for many ages.

# A representative example.

# (US) The material needed to make a piece of clothing.

# (textiles) The paper or cardboard template from which the parts of a garment are traced onto fabric prior to cutting out and assembling.

# (metalworking, dated) A full-sized model around which a mould of sand is made, to receive the melted metal. It is usually made of wood and in several parts, so as to be removed from the mould without damage.

# (computing) A text string containing wildcards, used for matching.

There were no files matching the pattern *.txt.

Decorative arrangement.

# A design, motif or decoration, especially formed from regular repeated elements.

#* 2003 , Valentino, ‘Is there a future in fashion's past?’, Time , 5 Feb 2003:

On my way to work the other day, I stopped at a church in Rome and saw a painting of the Madonna. The subtle pattern of blues and golds in the embroidery of her dress was so amazing that I used it to design a new evening dress for my haute couture.

# A naturally-occurring or random arrangement of shapes, colours etc. which have a regular or decorative effect.

#* 2011 , Rachel Cooke, The Observer , 19 Jun 2011:

He lifted the entire joint or fowl up into the air, speared on a carving fork, and sliced pieces off it so that they fell on the plate below in perfectly organised patterns .

# The given spread, range etc. of shot fired from a gun.

# A particular sequence of events, facts etc. which can be understood, used to predict the future, or seen to have a mathematical, geometric, statistical etc. relationship.

#* 1980 , ‘Shifting Targets’, Time , 6 Oct 1980:

The three killings pointed to an ugly new shift in the enduring pattern of violence in Northern Ireland: the mostly Protestant Ulster police, or those suspected of affiliation with them, have become more prominent targets for the I.R.A. than the British troops.

#* 2003 , Kate Hudson, The Guardian , 14 Aug 2003:

Look again at how the US and its allies behaved then, and the pattern is unmistakable.

# (linguistics) An intelligible arrangement in a given area of language.

Synonyms

* original (1) * stencil (1) * tessellation (2) * category (3) * cycle (4) * similarity (5) * See also

Antonyms

* antipattern

Derived terms

* design pattern

Verb

(en verb)

to apply a pattern

To make or design (anything) by, from, or after, something that serves as a pattern; to copy; to model; to imitate.

* Sir T. Herbert

[A temple] patterned from that which Adam reared in Paradise.

to follow an example

to fit into a pattern

To serve as an example for.

Synonyms

* model * categorize (2)

plaid

English

(wikipedia plaid)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) plaid, of uncertain origin; perhaps from a past participle form of (ply). Scottish Gaelic is probably a borrowing from Scots.

Noun

(en noun)

A type of twilled woollen cloth, often with a tartan or chequered pattern.

*:It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.

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.

*2009 , , Glencoe , Amberley 2009, p.47:

*:In battle, the plaid was customarily shrugged off before the charge bit home, and the warrior came into contact with only his long, saffron shirt (‘leine chrochach ’) to preserve modesty.

The typical chequered pattern of a plaid; tartan.

Adjective

(en adjective)

Having a pattern or colors which resemble a Scottish tartan; checkered or marked with bars or stripes at right angles to one another.

Etymology 2

Alternative forms.

Verb

(head)

(archaic) (play)

* 1774, Dr Samuel Johnson, Preface to the Works of the English Poets , J. Nichols, Volume II, Page 134,

"...then plaid on the organ, and sung..."

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