"cotton" in seven languages
Meaningcotton
Spanish
algodón
/algoˈdon/
masc.borrowed · Andalusian Arabic al-qutún
French
coton
/kɔtɔ̃/
masc.borrowed · Italian cotone
Italian
cotone
/koˈtone/
masc.borrowed · Arabic quṭn
Portuguese
algodão
/awgoˈdɐ̃w/
masc.borrowed · Andalusian Arabic al-qutún
Romanian
bumbac
/bumˈbak/
neut.other source · Modern Greek bambáki
Catalan
cotó
/kuˈto/
masc.borrowed · Arabic quṭn
English
cotton
/ˈkɑtən/
from Latin/French · Old French coton
English → ItaliancottoncotoneCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share
The ancestor
Arabic quṭn‘cotton’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
Spanish shows its tell-tale Arabic al- again (algodón, like azúcar, alcachofa); Italian and French took the bare noun.
English relatives: cotton
Learn it
In a sentence
- esUna camiseta de algodón.
- frUn T-shirt en coton.
- itUna maglietta di cotone.
- ptUma camiseta de algodão.
- roUn tricou de bumbac.
- caUna samarreta de cotó.
- enA cotton T-shirt.