An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/flechten

by Friedrich Kluge

flechten, vb., ‘to plait, braid, wreathe,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vlëhten, OHG. vlëhtan; a corresponding Goth. *flaíhtan, akin to flahta, f., ‘lock of hair,’ is wanting; OIc. flétta for flehtan. Teut. root fleht, from pre-Teut. plekt; the t, as also in Lat. plecto compared with plicare, was orig. only a formative element of the present tense, for according to Gr. πλέκω, πλοκή, πλόκος, the Aryan root must have been plek; comp. Sans. praçna, ‘braid, basket.’ Falten (root falþ) and flechten (root fleh) are entirely unrelated.