Where does “cottontop” come from?

cottontop (English) comes from English Cotton, from Middle English cotoun, from Anglo-Norman cotun, from Middle English coton, from Old French cotoun, from Italian cotone, from Arabic قُطُن, from Arabic قُطْن — cotton.

cottontop (English): An arboreal, diurnal New World tamarin Saguinus...

Definitions

  1. An arboreal, diurnal New World tamarin Saguinus...

Ancestry of “cottontop”, step by step

cottontop traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English Cotton

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishCottonThe name of several settlements around the world
2Middle Englishcotoun
3Anglo-Normancotun
4Middle Englishcotoncotton fiber of
5Old Frenchcotouncotton; a piece of cotton
6Italiancotonecotton; cotton wool
7Arabicقُطُن
8Arabicقُطْنcotton

via English top

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishtopThe highest or uppermost part of something; A...
2Middle EnglishtopThe summit or top of something, especially a...
3Old Englishtopptop, summit (of something)
4Proto-West Germanic*topptop, summit, crest
5Proto-Germanictuppaztuft, plait; top, summit
6Proto-Indo-Europeandumb-tail, rod, staff, pole, penis; tail, rod, staff,...
Every word from Arabic قُطْن