cousin
UK /ˈkʌzn̩/ · US /ˈkʌz(ə)n/ noun, verb, proper noun
Also a form of cousins
Forms cousins cousining cousined Couzen Couzens Cozen Cozens Cozin Cozins Cossin Cossins Cosin Cosins Cusin Cusins Cussin
- noun 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.
- noun (specifically) Preceded by an ordinal number, as first, second, third, etc.: a person descended from a common ancestor by the same number of generations as another person.
- noun (specifically) When used without a qualifying word: the child of a person's parent's brother (that is, an uncle) or sister (an aunt); a cousin-german, a first cousin. “Although we were cousins, we grew up like sisters.”
- noun (chiefly in the plural) A person of an ethnicity or nationality regarded as closely related to someone of another ethnicity or nationality.
- noun 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.
- noun Used by a monarch to address another monarch, or a noble; specifically (UK) in commissions and writs by the Crown: used in this way to address a viscount or another peer of higher rank.
- noun (figurative, also attributive) Something kindred or related to something else; a relative.
- noun (cant) A female sexual partner who is not a person's wife; specifically, a prostitute.
- verb To address (someone) as "cousin".
- verb (also reflexive) To regard (oneself or someone) as a cousin to another person.
- verb To associate with someone or something on a close basis.
- verb To visit a cousin or other relation.
- proper noun A surname from Middle English.
- noun (fandom slang) A fan of the character Lucien LaCroix from the Canadian television series Forever Knight.
Synonyms
chump chumpion cull cully dupe dotterel easy mark fall guy fish gudgeon gull juggins live one mark mug muggins pigeon rube sap saphead first cousin cousin-german full cousin
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.
From Middle English Cosyn, a surname from Norman terminology. From Anglo-Norman, from Old French cusin, cosin, cousin (“cousin”) (French cousin, cousine). Literally, “familial relative”.
From cousin, in reference to an incident when a fan of the character Nick Knight, Sharon Scott, admitted that she had a fear of frogs and after two other members of the mailing list who were fans of Lucien LaCroix sent her chocolate frogs in the mail, replied that the two were so cruel that they must be cousins.
Webster’s 1913
- noun One collaterally related more remotely than a brother or sister; especially, the son or daughter of an uncle or aunt.
- noun A title formerly given by a king to a nobleman, particularly to those of the council. In English writs, etc., issued by the crown, it signifies any earl.
- noun Allied; akin. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Etymology [F. cousin, LL. cosinus, cusinus, contr. from L. consobrinus the child of a mother's sister, cousin; con- + sobrinus a cousin by the mother's side, a form derived fr. soror (forsosor) sister. See Sister, and cf. Cozen, Coz.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cousin”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details