cousin

Meaning

Noun

1. 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.
2. (specifically) 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.
3. (specifically) 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.
4. (in-plural) A person of an ethnicity or nationality regarded as closely related to someone of another ethnicity or nationality.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. (also, attributive, figuratively) Something kindred or related to something else; a relative.
8. (obsolete) A female sexual partner who is not a person's wife; specifically, a prostitute.
9. (obsolete) A person who is swindled; a dupe.
10. (obsolete, rare) A person who womanizes; a seducer, a womanizer.

Verb

1. (rare, transitive) To address (someone) as "cousin".
2. (also, rare, reflexive, transitive) To regard (oneself or someone) as a cousin to another person.
3. (US, informal, intransitive, regional) To associate with someone or something on a close basis.
4. (US, informal, intransitive, regional) To visit a cousin or other relation.

Synonyms

first cousin

relative

cousin-german

sister

👩‍👧

joking

brother

👨‍👦

cross-cousin

elder sister

full cousin

kinsman

relatives

sibling

uncle

elder brother

elder sibling

roughhousing

younger sister

younger brother

folks

friend

3

relations

parallel cousin

kidding

kinfolk

boy-cousin

female cousin

female friend

younger sibling

great-uncle

cousins

kin

cous

kinsmen

lineage

relation

cousin german

uncle’s son

counterpart

sister-in-law

close relative

Translations

cousin

primo

cugino

cousine

cugina

Cousin

primo

Cousine

Vetter

prima

cosí

nicht

prima

Kusine

Base

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkʌzn̩/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: cosin

Cognate with French: cousin

Cognate with French: cousine

Cognate with Latin: soror

In summary

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.