ETYM French coton, Spanish algodon the cotton plant and its wool, coton printed cotton, cloth, from Arabic qutun, alqutun, cotton wool. Related to Acton, Hacqueton.
Tropical and subtropical herbaceous plant of the genus Gossypium of the mallow family Malvaceae. Fibers surround the seeds inside the ripened fruits, or bolls, and these are spun into yarn for cloth.
Cotton production uses 50% of world pesticides and represents 5% of world agricultural output. The fibers are separated from the seeds in a cotton gin. The seeds are used to produce cooking oil and livestock feed, and the pigment gossypol has potential as a male contraceptive in a modified form. Cotton disease (byssinosis), caused by cotton dust, affects the lungs of those working in the industry.
Transgenic cotton (with a foreign gene added to it by genetic engineering) was developed in the US 1992. The biotechnology company responsible, Agracetus, was granted a controversial patent entitling it to a royalty on every genetically engineered cotton seed till 2008. This effectively gives one company control over much of the research and development of the fourth largest crop in the US, though the patent office announced 1994 that it intended to revoke the patent.
1. Erect bushy mallow plant or small tree bearing bolls containing seeds with many long hairy fibers; SYN. cotton plant.
2. Fabric woven from cotton fibers.
3. Silky fibers from cotton plants in their raw state; SYN. cotton wool.
4. Thread made of cotton fibers. + prikaži više

ETYM Old Eng. threed, thred, as. thraed; akin to Dutch draad, German draht wire, thread, Old High Germ. drât, Icel. thrâthr a thread, Swed. trad, Dan. traad, and as. thrâwan to twist. Related to Throw, Third.
A fine cord of twisted fibers (of cotton or silk or wool or nylon etc.) used in sewing and weaving; SYN. yarn.

ETYM Old Eng. yarn, yarn, AS. gearn; akin to Dutch garen, German, Old High Germ., Icel., Swed., and Dan. garn; of uncertain origin. Related to Cord.
1. A kind of string spun from wool, used in knitting and other textiles.
2. A wild or improbably story.