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cousin

noun
/ˈkʌzn̩/UK/ˈkʌz(ə)n/US/ˈkʰɐz.n̩/

Etymology

The noun is derived from Middle English cosin, cosine, cosyn (“blood relative, kinsman or kinswoman; any relative; nephew or niece; first cousin; grandson or granddaughter; descendant; godchild or godparent, or a relative of a godchild or godparent; (figurative) closely related or similar thing”) [and other forms], and then: * from Anglo-Norman cosen, cosin [and other forms], Middle French cosin, and Old French cosin (“collateral male relative more distant than one’s brother; form of address used by a monarch to male monarchs or nobles”) [and other forms] (modern French cousin); and * from Anglo-Norman cosine, Middle French cosine, and Old French cosine (“collateral female relative more distant than one’s sister; form of address used by a monarch to female monarchs or nobles”) [and other forms] (modern French cousine), from Latin cōnsobrīnus (“maternal cousin; first cousin; relation”) (possibly through Vulgar Latin *cōsuīnus, from *cōsobīnus), from con- (prefix denoting a bringing together of several objects) + sobrīnus (“maternal cousin; sister’s son; any nephew”) (from a noun use of Proto-Italic *swezrīnos (“of or belonging to a sister”, adjective) (with the first syllable influenced by Latin soror (“sister”)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swésōr (“sister”), possibly from *swé (“self”) + *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”) (that is, a woman of one’s own blood) or *-sōr (feminine suffix)). The verb is derived from the noun.

  1. derived from *swésōr✻ — “sister”
  2. derived from *swezrīnos✻ — “of or belonging to a sister”
  3. derived from *cōsuīnus✻
  4. derived from cōnsobrīnus — “maternal cousin; first cousin; relation”
  5. derived from cosine — “collateral female relative more distant than one’s sister; form of address used by a monarch to female monarchs or nobles”
  6. derived from cosine
  7. derived from cosine
  8. derived from cosin — “collateral male relative more distant than one’s brother; form of address used by a monarch to male monarchs or nobles”
  9. derived from cosin
  10. derived from cosen
  11. inherited from cosin

Definitions

  1. Chiefly with a qualifying word

    Chiefly with a qualifying word: Any relation (especially a distant one) who is not a direct ancestor or descendant but part of a person's extended family; a kinsman or kinswoman.

    • Salute Andronicus⸝ and Junia my coſyns⸝ which were preſoners with me alſo⸝ which are wele taken amonge the apoſtles⸝ and were in Chriſt before me.
    • Hovv novv brother, vvhere is my coſen your ſonne, hath he prouided this muſique?
    • Couſin Harlovve, ſaid my aunt Hervey, allovv me to ſay, That my couſin Clary's prudence may be confided in.

  2. A person of an ethnicity or nationality regarded as closely related to someone of another…

    A person of an ethnicity or nationality regarded as closely related to someone of another ethnicity or nationality.

    • [H]e had received such good accounts from the Upper Nez Percés of their cousins, the Lower Nez Percés, that he had become desirous of knowing them as friends and brothers.
    • Gusts of letters blow in from all corners of the British Isles. These are presently reinforced by Canada in full blast. A few weeks later the Anglo-Indians weigh in. In due course we have the help of our Australian cousins.

  3. Used as a term of address for someone whom one is close to

    Used as a term of address for someone whom one is close to; also, (preceding a first name, sometimes capitalized as Cousin) a title for such a person.

    • I aſſure you, my dirty Couſin! thof his Skin be ſo vvhite, and to be ſure, it is the moſt vvhiteſt that ever vvas ſeen, I am a Chriſtian as vvell as he, and no-body can ſay that I am baſe born, […]
    • Marry quep, my cousin the weaver! And why the cucking-stool, I pray?—because my young lady is comely, and the young squire is a man of mettle, reverence to his beard that is yet to come?
  4. ›+ 11 more definitions

    1. Used by a monarch to address another monarch, or a noble

      Used by a monarch to address another monarch, or a noble; specifically (British) in commissions and writs by the Crown: used in this way to address a viscount or another peer of higher rank.

      • My noble L[ords] and Coſens all, good morrovv, / I haue beene long a ſleeper, but I hope / My abſence doth neglect no great deſignes, / VVhich by my preſence might haue been concluded.
      • Therefore vve meruaile much our Coſin France / VVould in ſo iuſt a buſineſſe, ſhut his boſome / Againſt our borrovving prayers.

    2. Something kindred or related to something else

      Something kindred or related to something else; a relative.

      • The euill habit of the body, is next coſin to the dropſie, […]
      • [T]he friends that in one Couch did ſleep, / Each others blade in eithers breſt do ſteep: / And all the Camp vvith head-les dead is ſovven, / Cut-off by Cozen-ſvvords, kill'd by their ovvne.

    3. A female sexual partner who is not a person's wife

      A female sexual partner who is not a person's wife; specifically, a prostitute.

    4. A person who is swindled

      A person who is swindled; a dupe.

    5. A person who womanizes

      A person who womanizes; a seducer, a womanizer.

      • Those whom Venus is said to rule, […] Wenchers, Leachers, Shakers, Smockers, Cousins, Cullies, Stallions and Bellibumpers; […]

    6. To address (someone) as "cousin".

      • [N]o, no, let me alone to cozen you rarely.
      • At length she seemed to relent, or changed her tactics, for she looked over his shoulder as he sketched, and Cousined him two or three times as usual.

    7. To regard (oneself or someone) as a cousin to another person.

      • [T]he old gentleman took me into the house and introduced me to the family, where I was at once cousined by them all.
      • [A] maiden well braced in nerve and muscle, / Far from sensual ease, to be mother of lustiest Britons, / Cousined to Romans in strength and in breadth of masterful Empire.

    8. To associate with someone or something on a close basis.

      • In an appendix to The Mechanic Muse, he [Hugh Kenner] finds Victorian symbolist practice serving to release the signifier from centuries of post-Enlightenment confusion about the proper wedding (or at least cousining) of word and thing.
      • The UK has fiscal arithmetic cousined with that of Greece, but is dealing with it.

    9. To visit a cousin or other relation.

      • It isn't the thing for a man to be like a stranger to his own flesh and blood. I'm going cousining, Sue, down East, and I'll hunt up my relations.

    10. A surname from Middle English.

    11. A fan of the character Lucien LaCroix from the Canadian television series Forever Knight.

      • > Am I the only one in the world who's actually *rooting* for Nick > to bite somebody, lose all his humanity points, and start back at square > one? […] No, you're not the only one. Sounds to me like you're a Cousin.
      • of course, even a Cousin comme moi has to admit that GWD [Geraint Wyn Davies] can do the wicked hot vampire thing too, when given the opportunity...

The neighborhood

Derived

autistics and cousins, cater-cousin, country cousin, cous, coz, cuz, cousinal, cousincest, cousinfucker, cousinfucking, cousinhood, cousin humper, cousinize, Cousin John, cousinless, cousinlike, cousinliness, cousinly, cousin prime, cousinred, cousinry, cousins, cousinship, cousiny, cuzzy, everybody and his cousin, everybody and their cousin, everyone and his cousin, everyone and their cousin, false cousin, forty-second cousin, grandcousin, half first cousin, noncousin, ship's cousin, stepcousin, think one is God's own cousin

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for cousin. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA