Also kapoc, CAPOC. [Malay kāpoq.] A fine short-stapled cotton wool, known as silk cotton, surrounding the seeds of the tree Eriodendron anfractuosum; used for stuffing cushions, etc. Also attrib. as kapok-tree.
1750. [see CAPOC].
1858. in Simmonds, Dict. Trade.
1881. Watts, Dict. Chem., VIII. 1144. The kapok-tree … of Java and the Indian Archipelago bears a seed resembling … that of the cotton plant. Ibid., Kapok cake.
1887. Moloney, Forestry W. Afr., 184.
1888. Hatter’s Gaz., 1 March, 143/2. In Java, where it is met with abundantly, kapok has attracted considerable attention…. It was first imported into Europe in 1851.
