THE FULL ARTICLE — from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), general editor James Orr — public domain, printed whole.

kot'-'-n (karpac is the better translation, as in the Revised Version, margin, where the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) have "green" in Es 1:6): The Hebrew karpac is from the Persian kirpas and the Sanskrit karpasa, "the cotton plant." The derived words originally meant "muslin" or "calico," but in classical times the use of words allied to karpac--in Greek and Latin--was extended to include linen. The probability is in favor of "cotton" in Es 1:6. This is the product of Gossypium herbaceum, a plant originally from India but now cultivated in many other lands.