To convert into cotton or give something a cotton-like appearance; or to base an economy on cotton production.
Cotton (from Arabic qutun via Old French coton) + -ize suffix (from Greek -izein). The -ize suffix became productive in English to mean 'to cause to become' or 'to treat with.'
The -ize suffix is incredibly powerful in English—it lets us turn almost any noun into an action verb, which is why we can 'computerize' a business or 'prioritize' tasks.
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