Cotton
/ˈkɒt.ən/noun
A soft, fluffy fiber that grows around the seeds of cotton plants and is used to make thread and fabric.
Did you know?The English word comes through Old French and Medieval Latin from Arabic qutn, showing how a basic fabric word carries the footprint of medieval trade networks across the Islamic world and Europe.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
PS
*quṭn-
“Cotton or cotton fiber”
Arabic
Ar
quṭn
“Cotton”
Medieval Latin
ML
coton / cuton
“Cotton”
Old French
OF
coton
“Cotton, cotton fiber”
Middle English
ME
cotoun / coton
“Cotton”
Modern English
En
cotton
“The soft fiber of the cotton plant; by extension, the plant and the cloth made from it”
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