English · Idiom Historical

King Cotton

Preserved but no longer current.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Cotton, the staple of the Southern States of America, and one of the chief articles of manufacture in England.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Cotton là mặt hàng chính ở các bang miền Nam nước Mỹ

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Topics: Kings & rulers Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “King Cotton” mean?

Cotton, the staple of the Southern States of America, and one of the chief articles of manufacture in England.

Is “King Cotton” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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