cotton English · revision 5787

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1286|origins=ar qutn}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈkɒt.ən/, US /ˈkɑː.tən/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English coton, [[bor|fro|coton]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from Arabic qutn, dialect qutun (Spanish Arabic qoton),^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(Hoad 1986) perhaps of Egyptian origin.^(Etymonline) Through Provençal, Italian or Old Spanish it reached French.^(Etymonline) The Arabic word is also the source of Dutch katoen, German Kattun, Italian cotone and, with the Arabic article al-, Spanish algodón and Portuguese algodão.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The soft white fibre around the seeds of the cotton plant: 1286 in Barnhart, 1300 in the OED; a candlewick of cotton is from 1290.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The cotton plant is from about 1400, and cloth made of cotton from the early 15th century.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Cotton thread for sewing is from 1848.^(OED 1989) The verb first meant to raise a nap on cloth (1488, Scottish);^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) perhaps from this, it came to mean to prosper or succeed and, of things, to suit (1567),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) then of people to get on together (about 1600) and to take a liking to (1805).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline also mentions a possible link with Welsh cytuno “to agree”.^(Etymonline) ''Cotton on'', to understand, is a later colloquial sense.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) The ''cotton gin'' is from 1794,^(Etymonline) ''cottontail'' from 1869, and ''cotton candy'' from 1926.^(Barnhart 1988) Philip Miller of the Chelsea Physic Garden sent the first cotton seeds to the colony of Georgia in 1732.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1286 – the fibre.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1400 – the cotton plant.^(OED 1989)

+ * early 15th century – cotton cloth.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1567 – the verb, to prosper, suit.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1794 – ''cotton gin''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1805 – to take a liking to.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1848 – cotton thread.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The soft white [[fibre]] around the seeds of a tropical plant, used to make cloth and thread.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The [[plant]] that produces it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Cloth or [[thread]] made from this fibre.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(cotton on, informal)'' To understand or realize.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(cotton to, informal)'' To take a liking to.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[uncottoned]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[cottontail]]

+ * [[cotton candy]]

+ * [[cotton wool]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Cotton was also the name of a coarse woollen cloth made in northwest England and Wales from the 16th century (Manchester cotton, Welsh cotton).^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}