Cotton vs. Cambric — What's the Difference?

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose.

Cambric (US: , UK: or ), or batiste, one of the finest and densest kinds of cloth, is a lightweight plain-weave cloth, originally from the French commune of Cambrai, woven greige (neither bleached nor dyed), then bleached, piece-dyed and often glazed or calendered. Initially it was made of linen; later, the term came to be applied to cotton fabrics as well.

Any of various shrubby plants of the genus Gossypium, having showy flowers and grown for the soft white downy fibers surrounding oil-rich seeds.

A finely woven white linen or cotton fabric.

The fiber of any of these plants, used in making textiles and other products.

A finely-woven fabric made originally from linen but often now from cotton.

Thread or cloth manufactured from the fiber of these plants.

A fine, thin, and white fabric made of flax or linen.

Any of various soft downy substances produced by other plants, as on the seeds of a cottonwood.

A fabric made, in imitation of linen cambric, of fine, hardspun cotton, often with figures of various colors; - also called cotton cambric, and cambric muslin.

To take a liking; attempt to be friendly

A finely woven white linen

To come to understand. Often used with to or onto

Gossypium, a genus of plant used as a source of cotton fiber.

Any plant that encases its seed in a thin fiber that is harvested and used as a fabric or cloth.

Any fiber similar in appearance and use to Gossypium fiber.

(textiles) The textile made from the fiber harvested from a cotton plant, especially Gossypium.

(countable) An item of clothing made from cotton.

Made of cotton.

(transitive) To provide with cotton.

To supply with a cotton wick.

To fill with a wad of cotton.

(horticulture) To wrap with a protective layer of cotton fabric.

To cover walls with fabric.

(tar and cotton) To cover with cotton bolls over a layer of tar (analogous to tar and feather )

To make or become cotton-like

To raise a nap, providing with a soft, cottony texture.

To develop a porous, cottony texture.

To give the appearance of being dotted with cotton balls.

To enshroud with a layer of whiteness.

To protect from harsh stimuli, coddle, or muffle.

To rub or burnish with cotton.

To get on with someone or something; to have a good relationship with someone.

A soft, downy substance, resembling fine wool, consisting of the unicellular twisted hairs which grow on the seeds of the cotton plant. Long-staple cotton has a fiber sometimes almost two inches long; short-staple, from two thirds of an inch to an inch and a half.

The cotton plant. See Cotten plant, below.

Cloth made of cotton.

To rise with a regular nap, as cloth does.

To go on prosperously; to succeed.

To unite; to agree; to make friends; - usually followed by with.

To take a liking to; to stick to one as cotton; - used with to.

Silky fibers from cotton plants in their raw state

Fabric woven from cotton fibers

Erect bushy mallow plant or small tree bearing bolls containing seeds with many long hairy fibers

Thread made of cotton fibers

Take a liking to;