cotton

See also: Cotton
Cotton plants.

English

Etymology 1

Middle English cotoun, from Anglo-Norman cotun, Old French coton, from (Genoese) Old Italian cotone, from Egyptian Arabic قُطُن‎, Andalusian Arabic قُطُون‎ (quṭūn), variants of Arabic قُطْن‎ (quṭn), قُطُن‎ (quṭun), or uncertain origin. There is no apparent semantic link between the Arabic words and the root ق ط ن‎ (q-ṭ-n), leading to suggestions that they are corruptions of other words, such as كَتّان‎ (kattān, “flax”) or (more distant phonologically) جَفْنَة‎ (jafna, “vine”). Cognate to Dutch katoen, German Kattun, Italian cotone, Spanish algodón, and Portuguese algodão.

Pronunciation

Noun

cotton (usually uncountable, plural cottons)

  1. A plant that encases its seed in a thin fiber that is harvested and used as a fabric or cloth.
  2. Gossypium, a genus of plant used as a source of cotton fiber.
  3. (textiles) The textile made from the fiber harvested from the cotton plant.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 2, in The China Governess‎:
      Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety.  She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.
  4. (countable) An item of clothing made from cotton.
Derived terms
Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Adjective

cotton (not comparable)

  1. Made of cotton.
Translations

References

  • “cotton” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2018.
  • Duschak, Moritz (1870) Die Botanik des Talmud (in German), Pest: I. Neuer, pages 7–10
  • Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 42
  • Löw, Immanuel (1881) Aramæische Pflanzennamen‎ (in German), Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, page 92
  • Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden‎ (in German), volume 2, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, pages 235 seqq., for Arabic Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden‎ (in German), volume 2, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, pages 241–242.

Etymology 2

1560s, either from Welsh cydun, cytun (“agree, coincide”) (cyduno, cytuno), from cyd, cyt + un (“one”), literally “to be at one with”, or by metaphor with the textile, as cotton blended well with other textiles, notably wool in hat-making.

Verb

cotton (third-person singular simple present cottons, present participle cottoning, simple past and past participle cottoned)

  1. To get on with someone or something; to have a good relationship with someone.
    • 1873, All the Year Round‎, page 286:
      I want to tell you the Dukes, both mother and son, are cottoning to her fast enough
    • 2009 March 21, Farhad Manjoo, “A Conference That Starts on Time and Stays on Schedule”, in The New York Times‎:
      The conference — Mr. Allen’s first gathering, and, depending on the economic outlook, maybe his last — brought together entrepreneurs, techies, writers and even some middle managers who’ve cottoned on to his ideas.
Usage notes

Generally used with prepositions on, to; see cotton on, cotton to.

Derived terms
Translations

References

  • “cotton” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2018.
  • Take Our Word For It: Issue 178, page 2
  • Palmer, Abram Smythe (1882) Folk-etymology: a dictionary of verbal corruptions or words perverted in form or meaning, by false derivation or mistaken analogy, G. Bell and Sons, page 76
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