Cotton in Different Languages
Discover 'Cotton' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
Cotton, a soft and fluffy staple fiber, has been a significant part of human history and culture for thousands of years. It is the world's most widely used natural fiber, playing a crucial role in various industries, including textiles, agriculture, and medicine. The importance of cotton extends beyond its practical uses, as it has been interwoven with human civilization in many fascinating ways.
For instance, did you know that cotton was cultivated in Mexico as early as 3000 BC, or that the ancient Indians used cotton to make sophisticated textiles that were traded along the Silk Road? These historical contexts and more make cotton a word of global significance, one that transcends linguistic and cultural boundaries.
Understanding the translation of cotton in different languages can provide valuable insights into the cultural importance of this versatile fiber. Here are a few examples:
- Spanish: algodón
- French: coton
- German: Baumwolle
- Mandarin: 棉花 (miánhuā)
- Japanese: 綿 (wata)
Stay tuned for more translations of cotton in different languages, each with its unique cultural significance and historical context.
Cotton
Cotton in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | katoen | ||
| The Afrikaans word "katoen" derives from the Dutch word "katoen" which in turn comes from the Arabic word "qutn" meaning "the soft white substance surrounding cotton seeds." | |||
| Amharic | ጥጥ | ||
| "ጥጥ" can also mean "soft". When the wind is calm and the lake or river is undisturbed, it is said to be "ጥጥ". | |||
| Hausa | auduga | ||
| The Hausa word | |||
| Igbo | owu | ||
| The Igbo word 'owu' also refers to a type of cloth made from cotton or a person known for their bravery. | |||
| Malagasy | landihazo | ||
| The word "landihazo" also refers to a cotton-like material made from the bark of a certain type of tree. | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | thonje | ||
| The word 'thonje' is also used to mean 'a thread' or 'a piece of cloth'. | |||
| Shona | donje | ||
| The word 'donje' in Shona also refers to the material used for making traditional clothing worn by both men and women. | |||
| Somali | cudbi | ||
| Cudbi is also the term for 'soft like cotton', indicating the comfort of the fabric. | |||
| Sesotho | k'hothone | ||
| The Sesotho term 'k'hothone' derives from the Bantu root '-khoth-', signifying 'to pull out or pluck'. | |||
| Swahili | pamba | ||
| Pamba has an alternate meaning of 'pad', such as a sanitary pad | |||
| Xhosa | umqhaphu | ||
| The term "umqhaphu" in Xhosa also refers to a type of fabric made from cotton. | |||
| Yoruba | owu | ||
| The word "owu" in Yoruba is believed to have originated from the exclamation "Owu o!", meaning "Look at the cotton!" | |||
| Zulu | ukotini | ||
| The Zulu word 'ukotini' is also used to describe the white, fluffy substance found inside mature seedpods of certain plants. | |||
| Bambara | kɔɔri | ||
| Ewe | ɖetsifu | ||
| Kinyarwanda | ipamba | ||
| Lingala | coton | ||
| Luganda | pamba | ||
| Sepedi | leokodi | ||
| Twi (Akan) | asaawa | ||
Cotton in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | قطن | ||
| The word "قطن" (qutn) in Arabic, помимо "хлопка", имеет альтернативное значение "уверенность". | |||
| Hebrew | כותנה | ||
| The word "כותנה" (cotton) is derived from the Arabic word "qutn", which means both "cotton" and "linen". | |||
| Pashto | پنبه | ||
| The word "پنبه" in Pashto has a similar root to the Sanskrit word "karpasa", both meaning "cotton plant". | |||
| Arabic | قطن | ||
| The word "قطن" (qutn) in Arabic, помимо "хлопка", имеет альтернативное значение "уверенность". | |||
Cotton in Western European Languages
| Albanian | pambuku | ||
| "Pambuku" also means "white" or "pure" in Albanian, which makes sense given the color and texture of cotton. | |||
| Basque | kotoia | ||
| The word "kotoia" in Basque also refers to the "cotton plant", "cotton thread" and "cotton fabric". | |||
| Catalan | cotó | ||
| In old Catalan, "cotó" also meant "quilt" or "cover". In Spanish, "cotón" means "fluff". In French, "coton" can mean "wool". In English, "cotton" is a type of plant characterized by its soft, fluffy fibers. | |||
| Croatian | pamuk | ||
| The word "pamuk" also has two alternative meanings in Croatian: it can refer to 1) the fibers produced by the silk cotton tree ("Ceiba pentandra") or 2) the soft silky down of certain plants. | |||
| Danish | bomuld | ||
| The word "bomuld" is derived from the Arabic word "qutn", which also means "cotton". The word may have entered Danish via Dutch or German. | |||
| Dutch | katoen | ||
| The word "katoen" likely originates from the Arabic word "qutn," meaning "fine, soft thread." | |||
| English | cotton | ||
| Cotton comes from Arabic "qutn", which also referred to the cotton plant and the fabric made from it. | |||
| French | coton | ||
| The French word « coton » can also refer to the fuzzy part of a peach. | |||
| Frisian | katoen | ||
| In Frisian, "katoen" comes from the Low German word "katun", which probably comes from the Italian word "cotone". It also refers to cotton waste and the lint that comes from flax. | |||
| Galician | algodón | ||
| In Galician, "algodón" can also mean "soft and fluffy material". | |||
| German | baumwolle | ||
| The word "Baumwolle" comes from the Middle High German word "bouwolle," which itself derives from the Arabic word "bawm," meaning "white plant." | |||
| Icelandic | bómull | ||
| In Icelandic, "bómull" can also refer to a type of medical gauze or a specific cotton fabric used for clothing. | |||
| Irish | cadás | ||
| In Irish, "cadás" can also refer to wool or waste material | |||
| Italian | cotone | ||
| In Italian, "cotone" can also refer to cloth, or to the downy part of plants. | |||
| Luxembourgish | kotteng | ||
| The word "Kotteng" in Luxembourgish is derived from the Old High German word "chotto", meaning "cotton". It also has the alternate meaning of "wick" in Luxembourgish. | |||
| Maltese | qoton | ||
| The Maltese word "qoton" ultimately derives from the Arabic word "qutun", meaning "cotton plant", and is cognate with the English word "cotton". | |||
| Norwegian | bomull | ||
| Bomull comes from the Latin word "bombacius", meaning "cotton wool". | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | algodão | ||
| In Portuguese, the word "algodão" also refers to the tree used to make cotton, known as the cotton tree or silk-cotton tree. | |||
| Scots Gaelic | cotan | ||
| The Gaelic word 'cotan' is cognate with Welsh 'coten', Old Irish 'cōtain', as well as with Latin 'cottus' and Greek 'κοττος' (kottos), all meaning 'quilt' or 'felt'. | |||
| Spanish | algodón | ||
| "Algodón" is derived from the Arabic word "al-qutn" meaning "the cotton plant." | |||
| Swedish | bomull | ||
| The word 'bomull' has also been used in Swedish to refer to the down of the eider duck. | |||
| Welsh | cotwm | ||
| The Welsh word | |||
Cotton in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | бавоўна | ||
| The Belarusian word for "cotton" is also used to mean "cotton candy". | |||
| Bosnian | pamuk | ||
| In Bosnian, "pamuk" can also refer to "cotton fabric" or "cotton clothes" | |||
| Bulgarian | памук | ||
| Памук is a Bulgarian word meaning "cotton" which is also used to refer to a soft, white, fluffy material, such as a cloud or a pillow. | |||
| Czech | bavlna | ||
| Bavlnka is also the Czech word for the plant yarrow or white horehound, a flowering herb that was traditionally used to heal wounds. | |||
| Estonian | puuvill | ||
| Puuvill is also used to describe a kind of fabric that has been treated to a chemical finish that gives it water resistance. | |||
| Finnish | puuvilla | ||
| In Northern dialects of Finnish, "puuvilla" refers to "cotton wool" or "cotton batting". | |||
| Hungarian | pamut- | ||
| The Hungarian word | |||
| Latvian | kokvilna | ||
| Latvian "kokvilna" came from French-influenced Middle Low German word "kokenwol" meaning "cotton wool". | |||
| Lithuanian | medvilnė | ||
| The word „medvilnė“ derives from the Sanskrit „mallavati“, meaning „twisted skein“. | |||
| Macedonian | памук | ||
| In Turkish, it also means ‘a tuft of cotton,’ ‘a flake of snow,’ or ‘the nap of velvet’. | |||
| Polish | bawełna | ||
| In Polish, "bawełna" can also refer to a type of soft, fluffy fabric made from cotton. | |||
| Romanian | bumbac | ||
| The word “bumbac” comes from the Turkish word “pamuk” which also means “cotton”. | |||
| Russian | хлопок | ||
| The word "хлопок" (khlopok) is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *xlopъ, meaning "fibrous plant" or "thread," and is related to other Slavic words for textiles such as "ткань" (tkan', "fabric") and "полотно" (polotno, "linen"). | |||
| Serbian | памук | ||
| In some contexts, the word "памук" can also refer to "cotton candy". | |||
| Slovak | bavlna | ||
| The word "bavlna" is derived from the German word "Baumwolle" via the Hungarian word "bavalna". | |||
| Slovenian | bombaž | ||
| "Bombaž" in Slovenian derives from the German word "Baumwolle" (cotton), originating from the medieval Latin "bombax" (cotton wool). | |||
| Ukrainian | бавовна | ||
| In the Ukrainian language, the word "бавовна" also means "explosion" in a slang manner. | |||
Cotton in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | সুতি | ||
| The word "সুতি" (cotton) in Bengali is derived from the Sanskrit word "सूत्र" (thread). | |||
| Gujarati | કપાસ | ||
| The word "કપાસ" in Gujarati can also refer to the cotton plant or the cotton boll. | |||
| Hindi | कपास | ||
| The word 'कपास' comes from the Sanskrit word 'karpasa', which also means 'cotton' and is the source of the English word 'cotton'. | |||
| Kannada | ಹತ್ತಿ | ||
| The word 'ಹತ್ತಿ' also refers to cotton threads and can be used in the phrase 'ಹತ್ತಿಯ ಹಾರ', meaning a garland of cotton threads. | |||
| Malayalam | പരുത്തി | ||
| The word 'പരുത്തി' ('cotton') in Malayalam shares its etymology with the Sanskrit word 'कुटीरा' ('cottage'), referring to the small-scale cottage industry surrounding its cultivation. | |||
| Marathi | कापूस | ||
| The word "कापूस" (cotton) in Marathi is derived from the Sanskrit word "कपास" (kapas), which means "fibrous substance". | |||
| Nepali | कपास | ||
| The word "कपास" (kapas) in Nepali is derived from the Sanskrit word "karpāsa", which also means "cotton". | |||
| Punjabi | ਸੂਤੀ | ||
| ਸੂਤੀ also refers to a person belonging to the cotton caste, a sub-caste of the Arora people in Punjab. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | කපු | ||
| "කපු" (Kapu) is a term used in Sri Lanka to refer to a variety of substances, including cotton, kapok, and floss silk. | |||
| Tamil | பருத்தி | ||
| The Tamil word 'பருத்தி' ('parutti') is also used to describe the raw material 'unprocessed cotton' in its unspun state before being made into cotton thread, yarn or fabric. | |||
| Telugu | పత్తి | ||
| The word "పత్తి" can also refer to a flower in Telugu. | |||
| Urdu | روئی | ||
| روئی also connotes a 'soft' or 'downy' texture in Urdu. | |||
Cotton in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 棉 | ||
| In Chinese, "棉" also refers to cotton plants or cottonseed, and is used in compound words like "棉花" (raw cotton) and "棉布" (cotton fabric). | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 棉 | ||
| In ancient China, "棉" was used for "silk" as well, not just cotton. | |||
| Japanese | コットン | ||
| "コットン" (ko-ton), a word used in Japanese for "cotton," can also refer to a type of bandage in the medical field. | |||
| Korean | 면 | ||
| "면" can also mean "to avoid" or "to escape". | |||
| Mongolian | хөвөн | ||
| The word "хөвөн" in Mongolian also refers to a type of wild goat known as the Asiatic ibex. | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဝါဂွမ်း | ||
Cotton in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | kapas | ||
| Kapas derives from the Sanskrit word "karpasa", and is also the root of the name for the state of Karnataka in India. | |||
| Javanese | katun | ||
| In Javanese, "katun" can refer to both "cotton" and "cloth". Similar to English, where "cloth" can mean fabric made from various materials. | |||
| Khmer | កប្បាស | ||
| The word "កប្បាស" (cotton) may be derived from the Pali word "kappa, | |||
| Lao | ຝ້າຍ | ||
| The word "ຝ້າຍ" can also refer to a ball of thread in Lao. | |||
| Malay | kapas | ||
| In Sanskrit, “kapas” referred to the seed of the cotton plant, while in Malay it means the cotton itself. | |||
| Thai | ผ้าฝ้าย | ||
| ผ้าฝ้าย is also used to refer to cotton fabrics, such as poplin, voile and swiss cotton. | |||
| Vietnamese | bông | ||
| Bông is also used in Vietnamese to refer to a type of tree with soft, fluffy seeds, similar to cotton. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | bulak | ||
Cotton in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | pambıq | ||
| The word "pambıq" comes from the Persian word "panbe", which itself is derived from the Sanskrit word "karpasa". | |||
| Kazakh | мақта | ||
| The word "мақта" also means "boast" or "brag" in Kazakh. | |||
| Kyrgyz | пахта | ||
| The word "пахта" in Kyrgyz is a loanword from Persian and ultimately comes from Sanskrit "patt" meaning "thread" or "fabric". | |||
| Tajik | пахта | ||
| The word "пахта" derives from the Persian word "پخته" (pakhta), meaning "cooked" or "ripe". | |||
| Turkmen | pagta | ||
| Uzbek | paxta | ||
| "Paxta" is derived from the Persian word "pakhta", which also means "cotton". | |||
| Uyghur | پاختا | ||
Cotton in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | pulupulu | ||
| Pulupulu, like many Polynesian words for "cotton," stems from pulu meaning "down" or "fluff," from which feathers are called pulu manu and kapok fluff is called pulu hala. | |||
| Maori | miro | ||
| The word miro can also refer to the Miro plant (Podocarpus ferrugineus), a species of conifer native to New Zealand. | |||
| Samoan | vavae | ||
| The word 'vavae' can also refer to a type of traditional Samoan skirt made from cotton. | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | bulak | ||
| The word "bulak" also refers to the fibers in coconut husks or the cotton-like material on silk trees. | |||
Cotton in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | qhiya | ||
| Guarani | mandyju | ||
Cotton in International Languages
| Esperanto | kotono | ||
| "Kotono" derives from Japanese (木綿, "cotton"), possibly via English or French. | |||
| Latin | bombacio | ||
| The Latin word "bombacio" also refers to a plant's stuffing. | |||
Cotton in Others Languages
| Greek | βαμβάκι | ||
| The term "βαμβάκι" is a loanword from Arabic "بوط̈" (pronounced "quṭn"), which may itself derive from the Akkadian "būssu" or the Old South Arabian "bmp". | |||
| Hmong | paj rwb | ||
| "Paj rwb" can also mean "white cotton" in Hmong. | |||
| Kurdish | pembo | ||
| The word "pembo" can also refer to the cotton plant or the cotton industry. | |||
| Turkish | pamuk | ||
| Pamuk is also a surname in Turkey, meaning "made of cotton" or "like cotton". | |||
| Xhosa | umqhaphu | ||
| The term "umqhaphu" in Xhosa also refers to a type of fabric made from cotton. | |||
| Yiddish | וואַטע | ||
| The Yiddish word "וואַטע" has an alternate meaning of "wadding" or "padding." | |||
| Zulu | ukotini | ||
| The Zulu word 'ukotini' is also used to describe the white, fluffy substance found inside mature seedpods of certain plants. | |||
| Assamese | কপাহ | ||
| Aymara | qhiya | ||
| Bhojpuri | रूई | ||
| Dhivehi | ކަފަ | ||
| Dogri | कपाह् | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | bulak | ||
| Guarani | mandyju | ||
| Ilocano | kapas | ||
| Krio | kɔtin | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | لۆکە | ||
| Maithili | कपास | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯂꯁꯤꯡ | ||
| Mizo | la | ||
| Oromo | jirbii | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | କପା | ||
| Quechua | utku | ||
| Sanskrit | तूली | ||
| Tatar | мамык | ||
| Tigrinya | ጡጥ | ||
| Tsonga | rigurhu | ||