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Rotten vs Cotton - What's the difference?

rotten | cotton |

As a noun rotten

is .

As a proper noun cotton is

the name of several settlements around the world or cotton can be .

rotten

English

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Of perishable items, overridden with bacteria and other infectious agents.
    • If you leave a bin unattended for a few weeks, the rubbish inside will turn rotten .
  • In a state of decay.
    • The floors were damaged and the walls were rotten .
    His mouth stank and his teeth were rotten .
  • Cruel, mean or immoral.
    • That man is a rotten father.
    This rotten policy will create more injustice in this country.
  • Bad or terrible.
    • Why is the weather always rotten in this city?
    It was a rotten idea to take the boat out today.
    She has the flu and feels rotten .

    Usage notes

    * Nouns to which "rotten" is often applied: wood, food, egg, meat, fruit, tomato, apple, banana, milk, vegetable, stuff, tooth, smell, person, kid, bastard, scoundrel, weather.

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • To an extreme degree.
    • That kid is spoilt rotten .
    The girls fancy him something rotten .

    Anagrams

    * ----

    cotton

    English

    (cotton)

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) cotoun, from (etyl) cotun, (etyl) coton, from (Genoese) (etyl) cotone, from (Egyptian) (etyl) , possibly originally from (etyl). Cognate to Dutch katoen, German Kattun, Italian cotone, Spanish

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • A plant that encases its seed in a thin fiber that is harvested and used as a fabric or cloth.
  • Gossypium , a genus of plant used as a source of cotton fiber.
  • (textiles) The textile made from the fiber harvested from the cotton plant.
  • (countable) An item of clothing made from cotton.
    • Derived terms
    * cotton candy * cottongrass * cotton pad * cotton picker * cottonseed * cotton stripper * cotton wool * cotton gin * cotton card * cotton blend

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Made of cotton.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
    • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=2 citation , passage=Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety.  She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.}}

    Etymology 2

    1560s, either from (etyl) cydun, , literally “to be at one with”, or by metaphor with the textile, as cotton blended well with other textiles, notably wool in hat-making. Take Our Word For It: Issue 178, page 2]Folk-etymology: a dictionary of verbal corruptions or words perverted in form or meaning, by false derivation or mistaken analogy, Abram Smythe Palmer, G. Bell and Sons, 1882, [http://books.google.com/books?id=YX5BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA76&dq=cotton p. 76

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To get on with someone or something; to have a good relationship with someone.
  • * '>citation
  • * '>citation
    • Usage notes
    Generally used with prepositions on, to; see cotton on, cotton to.
    Derived terms
    * cotton on * cotton to

    References

    English terms with multiple etymologies