What is the Latin word for cotton?

The usual Latin words for “cotton” are līnum, xylinum, bombȳx; also byssus, bombȳcinus, byssinus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

English → Latin

“cotton” in Latin

līnumflax; linen cloth; garment made of linen; rope, line, string, thread, cord, cable xylinumcotton bombȳxsilkworm byssusbyssus or sea silk bombȳcinussilken, silky byssinusMade of byssus xyloncotton (plant)gossympĭnusthe cotton-tree Cottona town of Æolis, in Asia Minor

Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864

cotton

linum: xylinum (Plin., 19, 1, 2, 3, § 14. The Greek, ἐριόξυλον only Ulpius, Dig., 32, 1, 70, § 9, where it is litterally translated by lana lignea): fine cotton, bombyx; byssus (late): made of cotton, xylinus: bombycinus: byssinus (the latter late; both “made of fine cotton”): cotton stuff, thread, byssus (late): the cotton plant, xylon: gossypion: gossympinus (both, probably, Egyptian words): [*gossypium herbaceum; *gossypium arboreum, Linn.].

Cotton

Cotton, -onis (f.)

Quick answer

What is the Latin word for cotton?: The usual Latin words for “cotton” are līnum, xylinum, bombȳx; also byssus, bombȳcinus, byssinus. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.

Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.