cotton

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.

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑt.n̩/, [ˈkɑʔ.n̩]
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒt.n̩/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒtən
• Hyphenation: cot‧ton

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.

cotton (not comparable)

1. Made of cotton.

• “cotton” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.
• 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.

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.

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.

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

• cotton on
• cotton to

• “cotton” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary, 2001–2019.
• 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