木綿もめん

also: きわた

も

め

ん

Common wordJLPTN4Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

1

noun

cotton (material)

Refers to cotton as a fabric or material, not the plant itself.

このシャツは木綿もめんでできている。
This shirt is made of cotton.
木綿もめんのハンカチを買かった。
I bought a cotton handkerchief.

2

noun

red silk-cotton tree (Bombax ceiba)

usually written using kana alone

Only with reading きわた

A tree species; usually written in kana as きわた. The reading もめん is not used for this sense.

Written forms

木綿Usage91%
- もめん
  Standard kanji spelling for cotton material.
- きわた
もめんUsage9%
木棉
- もめん
  Rarely used kanji form for cotton.
- きわた
  rarely-used kanji form
きわた
Kana spelling for the red silk-cotton tree; usually written in kana.

Kanji

木tree, wood
綿cotton
棉cotton

Similar words

綿わた
綿 refers to raw cotton or cotton wool, while 木綿 specifically means cotton fabric.
パンヤの木き
パンヤの木 is a related tree species, but きわた (Bombax ceiba) is a different species with distinct characteristics.

Etymology

木綿 is a compound of 木 (tree) and 綿 (cotton), originally referring to cotton produced from a tree-like plant. The reading もめん is a sound shift from 木綿 (もくめん). The reading きわた for the tree sense is a native Japanese reading of the same characters.