cozen
UK /ˈkəʊzən/ · US /ˈkoʊzən/ verb, proper noun
Forms cozens cozening cozened coosen coosin cosen
- verb (intransitive) To become cozy; (by extension) to become acquainted, comfortable, or familiar with.
- verb (archaic) To cheat; to defraud; to deceive, usually by small arts, or in a pitiful way.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
beguile abuse beglammer counterfeit deceive catch trap into dissemble dissimulate feign jiff lead astray overreach put on spoof sham trick lead on delude
Etymology
From coz(y) + -en.
Perhaps from obsolete Italian cozzonare (“to cheat”), from cozzone (“middleman, broker”), from Latin cōciō (“dealer”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To cheat; to defrand; to beguile; to deceive, usually by small arts, or in a pitiful way. He had cozened the world by fine phrases. Macualay.
- verb To deceive; to cheat; to act deceitfully.
Etymology [From cousin, hence, literally, to deceive through pretext of relationship, F. cousiner.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cozen”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details