cotton wool
“De toutes les matières C'est la ouate qu'elle préfère Passive, elle est pensive En négligé de soie C'est la ouate” — Of all materials Cotton wool is her favourite Passive, she is pensive In silk négligée It's cotton wool
Synonyms: coton hydrophile
Related: ouate de phoque, ouaté, ouater, ouaterie, ouateux
Uncertain. Often connected to Arabic بِطَانَة (biṭāna, “lining, inner part”), but this is phonologically difficult. Also compared to Arabic بَتّ (batt, “a square, thick, and loosely woven garment”), Hebrew בָּֽתִּים (bāttīm, “garments or hangings”) in II Kings 23:7, but this is commonly seen as a scribal error for בַּדִּים (baddīm), or כֻּתֹּונׅים (kuttōnīm). There is also the possibility of Japanese 綿 (wata, “raw cotton, cotton plant”) but improbable due to lack of contact.