cot·ton 
(kŏtn)
(kŏtn)n.
1.
a. Any of various shrubby plants of the genus Gossypium, having showy flowers and grown for the soft white downy fibers surrounding oil-rich seeds.
b. The fiber of any of these plants, used in making textiles and other products.
c. Thread or cloth manufactured from the fiber of these plants.
2. Any of various soft downy substances produced by other plants, as on the seeds of a cottonwood.
intr.v. cot·toned, cot·ton·ing, cot·tons
Informal
Informal
1. To take a liking; attempt to be friendly: a dog that didn't cotton to strangers; an administration that will cotton up to the most repressive of regimes.
2. To come to understand. Often used with to or onto: "The German bosses ... never cottoned to such changes" (N.R. Kleinfield).
[Middle English cotoun, from Old French coton, from Old Italian cotone, from Arabic quṭn, quṭun; see qṭn in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]
cottoncotton plant with bolls