Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CO-TIL'LON, n. [cotil'yun; Fr., a petticoat.]

A brisk dance, performed by eight persons together; also, a tune which regulates the dance.

COT'LAND, n.

Land appendant to a cottage. – Johnson.

COT'QUEAN, n.

A man who busies himself with the affairs which properly belong to women.

CO-TRUS-TEE', n.

A joint trustee. – Kent.

COTS'WOLD, n. [Sax. cote, and wold.]

Sheepcotes in an open country.

COTT, n. [Sax. cot, cote, a bed. Qu. Gr. κοιτη.]

A small bed; on board of ships, a bed frame suspended from the beams, for the officers to sleep in, between the decks; a piece of canvas, extended by a frame. – Mar. Dict.

COT'TAGE, n. [from cot.]

A cot; a hut; a small mean habitation. The sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds. – Zeph. ii.

COT'TA-GED, a.

Set or covered with cottages. – Collins.

COT'TA-GER, n.

1. One who lives in a hut or cottage.
2. In law, one who lives on the common, without paying any rent, or having land of his own. – Johnson.

COT'TER, or COT'TAR, n. [or COT'TIER.]

A cottager.

COT'TON, a.

Pertaining to cotton; made of cotton; consisting of cotton; as, cotton cloth; cotton stockings.

COT'TON, n. [cot'n; Fr. coton; It. cotone; Ir. cadas; Sp. algodon, the cotton-plant or the wool; coton, printed cotton; Port. algodam; D. katoen; W. cotwm, cotton, dag-wool, as if from cot, a short tail. But it seems to be an Arabic word, قٌطْنٌ kotun, corresponding with a word in Ethiopic and Syriac, which signifies to be thin or fine. And with a common dialectical variation, it may coincide with the first syllable of gossypium and gossamer.]

1. A soft downy substance, resembling fine wool, growing in the capsules or pods of Gossypium, the cotton-plant. It is the material of a large proportion of cloth for apparel and furniture.
2. Cloth made of cotton. Lavender-cotton. The popular name of a genus of plants, Santolina, of several species; shrubs cultivated in gardens. One species, the chamæcyparissus, or Abrotanum fæmina, female southern-wood, is vulgarly call brotany. – Encyc. Philosophic cotton, flowers of zink, which resemble cotton. Silk-cotton tree, the popular name of a genus of plants, the Bombax, growing to a great size in the Indies, and producing a kind of cotton in capsules. Encyc.

COT'TON, v.i.

1. To rise with a nap. – Johnson.
2. To cement; to unite with; a cant word. – Swift.

COT'TON-GIN, n.

A machine to separate the seeds from cotton, invented by that celebrated mechanician, E. Whitney.

COT'TON-GRASS, n.

The popular name of a genus of plants, the Eriophorum.

COT'TON-MA-CHINE, n.

A machine for carding or spinning cotton.

COT'TON-MILL, n.

A mill, or building, with machinery for carding, roving, and spinning cotton, by the force of water or steam.

COT'TON-PLANT, or COT'TON-SHRUB, n.

A plant of the genus Gossypium, of several species, all growing in warm climates. The principal species are, 1. the herbaceous cotton, with smooth leaves and yellow flowers, succeeded by roundish capsules, full of seeds and cotton; 2. the hairy American cotton, with hairy stalks and leaves, and yellow flowers, succeeded by oval pods; 3. the Barbadoes shrubby cotton, has a shrubby stalk, yellow flowers, and oval pods; 4. the arboreum, or tree cotton, with a woody perennial stalk, bears yellow flowers, and large pods. The first three species are annual plants; the last is perennial. – Encyc. In the southern states of America, the cotton cultivated is distinguished into three kinds; the nankeen cotton, so called from its color; the green seed cotton, producing white cotton with green seeds. These grow in the middle and upper country, and are called short staple cotton. The black seed cotton, cultivated in the lower country, near the sea, and on the isles near the shore, produces cotton of a fine, white, silky appearance, very strong, and of a long staple. The seeds of the long staple cotton are separated by roller-gins. The seeds of the short staple cotton are separated with more difficulty, by a saw-gin, invented by E. Whitney. – Ramsay. Drayton.

COT'TON-THIS-TLE, n.

A plant, the Onopordum. – Muhlenberg.

COT'TON-WEED, n.

A plant, the Filago. The name is given also to the Gnaphalium, cud-weed, or goldy-locks.

COT'TON-Y, a.

1. Downy; nappy; covered with hairs or pubescence like cotton. – Martyn.
2. Soft like cotton.

CO'TY-LE, n. [Gr. κοτυλη.]

The cavity of shone which receives the end of another in articulation.

CO-TYL-E'DON, n. [Gr. κοτυληδων, from κοτυλη, a hollow or cavity.]

1. In botany, the perishable lobe of the seeds of plants. It involves and nourishes the embryo plant, and then perishes. Some seeds have two lobes; others one only, and others none. – Milne. Martyn. Encyc.
2. In anatomy, a little glandular body adhering to the chorion of some animals. – Coxe. Encyc.
3. A genus of plants, navel-wort, or kidney-wort, of several species. – Encyc.

CO-TYL-ED'O-NOUS, a.

Pertaining to cotyledons; having a seed-lobe.

COUCH, n.

1. A bed; a place for rest or sleep. – Milton. Dryden.
2. A seat of repose; a place for rest and ease, on which it is common to lie down undressed. – Milton. Dryden.
3. A layer or stratum; as, a couch of malt. – Mortimer.
4. In painting, a lay or impression of color, in oil or water, covering the canvas, wall, or other matter to be painted. – Encyc.
5. Any lay, or impression, used to make a thing firm or consistent, or to screen it from the weather. – Encyc.
6. A covering of gold or silver leaf; laid on any substance to be gilded or silvered. – Encyc.