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cotton

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cotton

Main Entry:: ¹cot·ton
Pronunciation:: \ˈkä-t^ən\
Function:: noun
Usage:: often attributive
Etymology:: Middle English coton, from Anglo-French cotun, from Old Italian cotone, from Arabic quṭun, quṭn
Date:: 14th century

1 a: a soft usually white fibrous substance composed of the hairs surrounding the seeds of various erect freely branching tropical plants (genus Gossypium) of the mallow family b: a plant producing cotton; especially : one grown for its cotton c: a crop of cotton2 a: fabric made of cotton b: yarn spun from cotton3: a downy cottony substance produced by various plants (as the cottonwood)

[cotton illustration]

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