Cotton On Means to Understand
Cotton is a soft fibre from a plant. British slang uses the same word for grasping an idea, from fibres sticking together.
Cotton is the soft fibre growing around the seeds of the *Gossypium* plant. Two idioms come from the way the fibre behaves: to *cotton on* is to grasp something, and to *cotton to* someone is to take a liking to them. Both draw on the image of fibres catching and clinging together.
- A plant fibre. *Pure cotton.*
- Thread or cloth from it. *A reel of cotton.*
- Cotton on — to understand. *He finally cottoned on.*
- Cotton to — to take a liking to. *She never cottoned to him.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | cotton | Egyptian cotton. |
| Adjective | cotton | A cotton shirt. |
| Phrasal | cotton on | Cotton on quickly. |
| Genus | Gossypium | Gossypium hirsutum. |
| Related | gin | A cotton gin. |
How it is used in a sentence
- It took him a while to cotton on.British: to understand.
- The cotton gin transformed the industry.Gin is short for engine.
- Cotton fibres are almost pure cellulose.Around ninety per cent.
Cotton facts
- Cellulose — cotton fibre is around ninety per cent of it
- Cotton gin — the machine separating fibre from seed, from *engine*
- Boll — the protective capsule around the fibres
- Long staple — longer fibres make finer, stronger thread
- Water use — cotton is among the thirstiest major crops
From Old French *coton*, from Arabic *qutn*. It reached Europe through Arabic-speaking traders, as did *sugar*, *cotton* and *muslin*.
Where does *cotton on* come from?
Probably from the way cotton fibres cling. The sense of taking to something came first, and grasping an idea followed.
What is a cotton gin?
A machine that separates cotton fibre from its seeds. Gin here is a shortening of engine.