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Kanji for Cotton
The kanji most commonly used for "Cotton" is 綿.
綿
Kanji that mean Cotton
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綿
cotton, detailed
Also associated with continuous.
Onyomi: men Kunyomi: wata 14 strokes Jōyō
綿 (wata / men) is cotton — the thread radical 糸 beside 帛, silk cloth: fibre that becomes cloth. As wata it is the fluff itself, the wadding inside a futon; as men it is the material on every clothing label, where 綿100% means 100% cotton.
The character’s second life is metaphorical. 綿々 means “unbroken, continuing endlessly”, and 綿密 — “cotton-fine” — means meticulous, closely woven. So a character that starts as soft stuffing ends up describing careful work.
木綿 (momen) is woven cotton cloth, the fabric of everyday traditional clothing; 綿雲 is a fluffy “cotton cloud”; 綿雪 the fat flakes of soft snow. Warm, soft, and domestic — that is the field 綿 lives in.
Words using Cotton kanji
Everyday Japanese vocabulary built from the characters above.
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綿密
めんみつ
minute; detailed; careful
Before you use Cotton kanji
綿 reads as "cotton" — soft, warm, harmless, and to Japanese eyes mostly like a fabric label. It carries a secondary sense of continuity and meticulousness (綿々, 綿密), but standing alone it is an unusual, quiet choice rather than a poetic one.