a person who works with or produces cotton; a cotton manufacturer, merchant, or worker in the textile industry.
From 'cotton' plus the occupational suffix '-er' (one who does something). Similar to 'cottoneer', it describes someone involved in cotton production or trade.
Cotton workers included everyone from enslaved people picking cotton to wealthy merchants trading it—the word 'cottoner' could describe vastly different people depending on time and place, showing how one industry could span the entire social hierarchy.
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