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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

cotton.

A fibrous substance:

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈkɒt.n̩/Received-Pronunciation[ˈkʰɒt.n̩]Received-Pronunciation/ˈkɑt.n̩/General-American[ˈkɑ.ʔn̩]General-American
  1. A fibrous substance: A soft, fibrous, usually white substance consisting of fine hairs, especially the substance around the seeds of a plant of genus Gossypium.

    uncountable · usually
  2. A fibrous substance: Any similar soft, fibrous, white substance of fine hairs, of any origin.

    uncountable · usually
  3. A plant source: A plant of genus Gossypium, used as a source of such fiber.

    uncountable · usually
  4. A plant source: Any plant that encases its seed in a thin fiber that is harvested and used as a fabric or cloth.

    uncountable · usually
  5. A manufactured product of such a substance: Textiles made from the fiber harvested from a cotton plant, especially Gossypium.

    uncountable · usually
  6. A manufactured product of such a substance: An item of clothing made from such textiles.

    countable · usually
  7. A manufactured product of such a substance: A small piece of cotton used as a filter when drawing up a drug into a syringe.

    uncountable · usually
  8. A manufactured product of such a substance: Thread of such fiber.

    uncountable · usually
  9. A manufactured product of such a substance: A wick of a candle.

    archaic · uncountable · usually
Where this word comes from

From Middle English cotoun, from Anglo-Norman cotun, Old French coton, from (Genoese) Old Italian cotone, from Arabic قُطُن (quṭun), from Hebrew כֻּתֹּנֶת (kuttṓnĕṯ).

adj/ˈkɒt.n̩/Received-Pronunciation[ˈkʰɒt.n̩]Received-Pronunciation/ˈkɑt.n̩/General-American[ˈkɑ.ʔn̩]General-American
  1. Made of cotton.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English cotoun, from Anglo-Norman cotun, Old French coton, from (Genoese) Old Italian cotone, from Arabic قُطُن (quṭun), from Hebrew כֻּתֹּנֶת (kuttṓnĕṯ).

verb/ˈkɒt.n̩/Received-Pronunciation[ˈkʰɒt.n̩]Received-Pronunciation/ˈkɑt.n̩/General-American[ˈkɑ.ʔn̩]General-American
  1. To provide with cotton.

    transitive
  2. To provide with cotton. To supply with a cotton wick.

    transitive
  3. To provide with cotton. To fill with a wad of cotton.

    transitive
  4. To provide with cotton. To wrap with a protective layer of cotton fabric.

    transitive
  5. To provide with cotton. To cover walls with fabric.

    transitive
  6. To provide with cotton. To cover with cotton bolls over a layer of tar (analogous to tar and feather )

    transitive
  7. To make or become cottonlike. To raise a nap, providing with a soft, cottony texture.

    transitive
  8. To make or become cottonlike. To develop a porous, cottony texture.

    transitive
  9. To make or become cottonlike. To give the appearance of being dotted with cotton balls.

    transitive
  10. To make or become cottonlike. To enshroud with a layer of whiteness.

    transitive
  11. To protect from harsh stimuli, coddle, or muffle.

  12. To rub or burnish with cotton.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English cotoun, from Anglo-Norman cotun, Old French coton, from (Genoese) Old Italian cotone, from Arabic قُطُن (quṭun), from Hebrew כֻּתֹּנֶת (kuttṓnĕṯ).

verb
  1. To get on with someone or something; to have a good relationship with someone.

Where this word comes from

First use appears c. the 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.

noun
  1. A liking.

    no-plural
Where this word comes from

First use appears c. the 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.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.