cot

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈkät 

1

: a small house

2

: cover, sheath

especially : stall sense 4

cot

2 of 3

noun (2)

1

: a small usually collapsible bed often of fabric stretched on a frame

2

British : crib sense 2b

cot

3 of 3

abbreviation

cotangent

Examples of cot in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The nonprofit operates its kitchen and works with other organizations to steer unhoused people into the apartments at the Vineyard Resource Center — where Briggs lives — as well as onto the 20 cots that are available in the dining area after the kitchen closes each night. —Rick Hurd, The Mercury News, 8 Dec. 2024

The cot is also adjustable, so it can be used as a chair or bed. —Christopher Murray, Fox News, 2 Dec. 2024

Several hours later at the New Orleans Convention Center, where hundreds of people were lying on cots, the psychological trauma was palpable. —Bill Frist, Forbes, 6 Nov. 2024

Unsure what to say, Hope leaned his chest over the cot, passing his body heat to her. —Lizzie Presser, ProPublica, 25 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, "dwelling of a rural laborer, cottage, hut," going back to Old English cot (neuter a-stem) "dwelling of a rural laborer, bedchamber," going back to Germanic *kuta- "shelter" (whence also Middle Dutch cot "hut, hovel, pen for animals," Old Icelandic kot "hut, cottage"), of uncertain origin

Note: Alongside Old English cot is cote, a feminine weak noun (see cote entry 1). The Dictionary of Old English and Middle English Dictionary collapse the entries for the two words, and, in fact, it is not always possible to assign inflected forms to one or the other. The Oxford English Dictionary, on the other hand, keeps them separate, though it notes that definite attestations of cot are very meager between Old English and early Modern English. The lemma for the words in the Dictionary of Old English is cott, cotte, but the geminate spellings only occur in the Lindisfarne Gospels, and would seem to be of purely graphic significance. The sense "bedchamber" (translating Latin cubile and cubiculum) occurs only in the Lindisfarne and Rushworth Gospels. — The Germanic noun appears to be the zero-grade form of a root attested in other grades, as suggested by G. Kroonen (Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic) and elsewhere; compare Old English cyte "monastic cell, shepherd's hut" (for *cīete), central German regional/dialect Kötze "basket for carrying on the shoulders, pannier," Norwegian køyta "wickerwork hut" (from *kautjōn-?); central German Kietze, Kitze "bark container, pannier" (from *keutja/ō-?). (Kroonen also adduces Kiez/Kietz, originally "place where fishermen live," now "district of a city, red-light district," but as this word was native to northeastern Germany, a source with High German consonantism is unlikely.) Comparisons beyond Germanic are uncertain. If proto-Finno-Ugric *kota is relevant (compare Finnish kota "hut, house," Hungarian ház "house"), a European substratal origin is possible, though its introduction into Germanic would have to postdate Grimm's law.

Noun (2)

Hindi & Urdu khāṭ bedstead, from Sanskrit khaṭvā, perhaps of Dravidian origin; akin to Tamil kaṭṭil bedstead

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

1634, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing cot

• carry-cot
• cot death

Kids Definition

cot

1 of 2 noun

ˈkät 

: cottage sense 1

cot

2 of 2 noun

: a narrow bed often made of fabric stretched over a folding frame

Etymology

Noun

Old English cot "cottage"

Noun

from Hindi and Urdu khāt "frame of a bed"

Medical Definition

cot

1 of 2 noun

ˈkät 

: a protective cover for a finger

called also fingerstall

cot

2 of 2 noun

: a wheeled stretcher for hospital, mortuary, or ambulance service