cotton

Where does the word "cotton" come from? It comes from Arabic qutn, passing through Old French before entering English (medieval).

Cotton’s story begins in Arabic: qutn meant “cotton.” The Arabic name for the fiber plant. By medieval, the word had taken hold in Old French as coton. Spread through Mediterranean textile trade. It reached English by medieval as cotton. Settled as the English name for the fiber. Today, cotton means a soft, fluffy fiber grown around the seeds of the cotton plant, used to make textiles.

1. Stage 1 · Arabic · medieval qutn "cotton", the Arabic name for the fiber plant.
2. Stage 2 · Old French · medieval coton "cotton", spread through Mediterranean textile trade.
3. Stage 3 · English · medieval cotton "the soft fiber used in textiles", settled as the English name for the fiber.