pleat vs plica

pleat

noun
  • A fold in an organ, usually a longitudinal fold in a long leaf such as that of palmetto, lending it stiffness. 

  • A fold in the fabric of a garment, usually a skirt, as a part of the design of the garment, with the purpose of adding controlled fullness and freedom of movement, or taking up excess fabric. There are many types of pleats, differing in their construction and appearance. 

  • A plait. 

verb
  • To form one or more pleats in a piece of fabric or a garment. 

  • To plait. 

plica

noun
  • A fold or crease, especially of skin or other tissue. 

  • A neume, in the form of a tail at the end of a ligature, indicating an additional note. 

  • Polish plait, plica polonica, or plica neuropatica: a disease of the hair in which it becomes twisted and matted together. 

  • A diseased state in plants in which there is an excessive development of small entangled twigs, instead of ordinary branches. 

  • The bend of the wing of a bird. 

How often have the words pleat and plica occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )