Word.ws English Dictionary

cousin

Syllables: cou·sinUK/ˈkʌzn̩//ˈkʌz(ə)n/

cousin 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 (1)

cousin (plural cousins)

  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.
    • 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.1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, The Epistle off the Apostle Paul to the Romanes xvj:[7], folio ccxvj, verso
    • Hovv novv brother, vvhere is my coſen your ſonne, hath he prouided this muſique?1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, Much Adoe about Nothing. […], quarto edition, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, published 1600, →OCLC, [Act I...
    1. (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.
      • […] I never knevv the marriage of ſecond Coſens forbidden, but by them vvho at the ſame time forbad the marriage of the firſt: […] And vve find that Iſaac married his ſecond Coſen, and that vvas more for it then ever could be ſaid againſt it.1660, Jeremy Taylor, “Rule 3. The Judicial Law of Moses is Annul'd, or Abrogated, and Retains No Obliging Power either in Whole or in Part over any Christian Prince, Commonwealth, or Person.”, in...
    2. (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.
      • Cooſen Aumarle. / Hovv far brought you high Hereford on his vvay? / […] / VVhat ſaid our couſin vvhen you parted vvith him?1595 December 9 (first known performance), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedie of King Richard the Second. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Simmes for Androw Wise, […], published 1597...
  2. (in plural) 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.1837, Washington Irving, chapter VII, in The Rocky Mountains: Or, Scenes, Incidents, and Adventures in the Far West; […], volume II, Philadelphia, Pa.: [Henry Charles] Carey, [Isaac] Lea, &...
    • 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.1916 June, Max Beerbohm, “A. V. Laider”, in Seven Men, London: William Heinemann, published 1919, →OCLC, page 147
  3. 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, […]1749, Henry Fielding, “The Arrival of a Surgeon. His Operations, and a Long Dialogue between Sophia and Her Maid.”, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume II, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […]...
    • 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?1825 June 22, [Walter Scott], chapter IX, in Tales of the Crusaders. […], volume I (The Betrothed), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson...
  4. 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.
    • 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.c. 1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Tragedy of King Richard the Third. […] (First Quarto), London: […] Valentine Sims [and Peter Short] for Andrew Wise, […], published 1597, →OCLC...
    • Therefore vve meruaile much our Coſin France / VVould in ſo iuſt a buſineſſe, ſhut his boſome / Againſt our borrovving prayers.c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
  5. (also, attributive, figuratively) Something kindred or related to something else; a relative.
    • Her dolour ſoone ſhe ceaſt, and on her dight / Her Helmet, to her Courſer mounting light: / Her former ſorrovv into ſuddein vvrath, / Both cooſen paſſions of diſtroubled ſpright, / Conuerting, forth ſhe beates the duſty path; / Loue and deſpight attonce her courage kindled hath.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 12, page 447
    • The euill habit of the body, is next coſin to the dropſie, […]1607, Conradus Gesnerus [i.e., Conrad Gessner]; Edward Topsell, “Of the Horsse”, in The Historie of Foure-footed Beastes. […], London: […] William Iaggard, →OCLC, page 385
  6. (obsolete, cant) A female sexual partner who is not a person's wife; specifically, a prostitute.
    • Viola Svvagger vvorſe then a Lieutenant among freſhvvater ſouldiers, call me your loue, your ingle, your coſen, or ſo; but ſiſter at no hand. / Fuſt[igo]. No, no, it ſhall be cozen, or rather cuz that's the gulling vvord betvveene the Cittizens vviues and their old dames, that man em to the garden...1604 (date written), Tho[mas] Dekker, [Thomas Middleton], The Honest Whore. […] (4th quarto), London: […] Nicholas Okes for Robert Basse, […], published 1616, →OCLC, Act I, signatures B, verso – B2...
  7. (obsolete, cant) A person who is swindled; a dupe.
    • [I]f a plaine fellow well and cleanely apparelled, either in home-ſpun ruſſet or freeze (as the ſeaſon requires) with a five pouch at his girdle, happen to appeare in his ruſticall likenes: there is a Cozen ſaies one, At which word out flies the Taker, and thus giues the onſet vpon my olde...1608, [Thomas Dekker], “Of Barnards Law”, in The Belman of London. […], London: […] [Edward Allde and Nicholas Okes] for Nathaniel Butter, →OCLC, signature F, verso
  8. (obsolete, rare) A person who womanizes; a seducer, a womanizer.
    • Those whom Venus is said to rule, […] Wenchers, Leachers, Shakers, Smockers, Cousins, Cullies, Stallions and Bellibumpers; […]1653, Francis Rabelais [i.e., François Rabelais], translated by [Thomas Urquhart, Peter Anthony Motteux], “Of the Disposition of the People this Year”, in The Works of Francis Rabelais, Doctor in...

Verb

cousin (third-person singular simple present cousins, present participle cousining, simple past and past participle cousined)

  1. (rare, transitive) To address (someone) as "cousin".
    • [N]o, no, let me alone to cozen you rarely.1604 (date written), Tho[mas] Dekker, [Thomas Middleton], The Honest Whore. […] (4th quarto), London: […] Nicholas Okes for Robert Basse, […], published 1616, →OCLC, Act I, signature B, verso
    • 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.1857 September, “A Winter in the South”, in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, volume XV, number LXXXVIII, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, pages 441–442
  2. (also, rare, reflexive, transitive) To regard (oneself or someone) as a cousin to another person.
    • Mrs. M[uddlebrain]. […] Mary, who is this young man? / Mary. That's my cousin, ma'am, just stept in to lend us a helping hand in placing the things. / […] / Shuffle. What the devil did she say about a tall grenadier, and the pantry? Mrs. Shuffle! Mrs. Shuffle! / Mary. Hush! Are you mad? Do you want...1833, G. Herbert Rodwell, The Chimney Piece. A Farce, in One Act. […] (Miller’s Modern Acting Drama, […]; no. 5), London: John Miller, […], →OCLC, scene i, page 2
    • [T]he old gentleman took me into the house and introduced me to the family, where I was at once cousined by them all.1877 May 28, J[acob] Sam[ue]l Vandersloot, quoting Cyrus Sturdivant, “‘To God be All Praise’”, in The True Path; or, The Murphy Movement and Gospel Temperance. […], Philadelphia, Pa.: William Flint...
  3. (US, informal, intransitive, regional) 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.1999, Garrett Stewart, “Modernism and the Flicker Effect”, in Between Film and Screen: Modernism’s Photo Synthesis, Chicago, Ill.; London: University of Chicago Press, →ISBN, page 310
    • [P]atients would escape into the town for a bit of a fling or "cousining" as it was called. "Cousining" was a Saranac Lake euphemism that applied to a couple, both of them patients and sometimes already married with a spouse living far away, who spent time together or dated each other.2007, Caperton Tissot, quoting Elise Chapin, “Some Offered Healing, Some Found Healing”, in Willem Tissot, editor, History between the Lines: Women’s Lives and Saranac Lake Customs, Jay, N.Y....
  4. (US, informal, intransitive, regional) To visit a cousin or other relation.
    • You know when you get up in the morning that you have a certain quantity of cousining to go through before the day is over, and you make up your mind to it; read a page of Seneca, add a verse to your litany, and commit yourself to Providence, like a wise man and a Christian.1836 July, “A Chapter on Cousins”, in Dublin University Magazine, volume VIII, number XLIII, Dublin: William Curry, Jun. and Company; London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., →OCLC, page 28, column 1
    • Who then that has a cousin, has aught to say against cousining? We do indeed often her sneeringly the expression of "Dutch cousining" or "Yankee cousining," as if there was something mean in the act of visiting those who are "next of kin." To such as do it, I feel an unconquerable aversion or...1845 October 20, B. C. True, “Cousining in Autumn”, in Thomas L. Harris, John Tanner, editors, The Gavel: A Monthly Periodical Devoted to Odd Fellowship and General Literature, volume II, number 3...

Proper noun capitalized: Cousin

Cousin (plural Cousins)

  1. A surname from Middle English.

Noun (2) capitalized: Cousin

Cousin (plural Cousins)

  1. (slang) 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.1995 February 16, Michelle D. Noel, “a question...”, in alt.tv.forever-knight (Usenet), archived from the original on 27 Jan 2026
    • 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...1998 November 16, ekarr@arctos.bowdoin.edu, “Lucroxua(sp).....Why is he so sexy?”, in alt.tv.forever-knight (Usenet), archived from the original on 27 Jan 2026

cousin meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

cousin in Hindi

child of a person’s parent’s brother or sister
चचेरा भाई cacerā bhāī, चचेरी बहन cacerī bahan, फुफेरा भाई phupherā bhāī, फुफेरी बहन phupherī bahan, ममेरा भाई mamerā bhāī, ममेरी बहन mamerī bahan

cousin in Urdu

چچا زاد, خالہ زاد, ماموں زاد, پھوپھی زاد

cousin in Bengali

child of a person’s parent’s brother or sister
বেরাদর berador

cousin in Malayalam

cousin
കസിൻ kasiṉ
More languagesFewer languages
cousin in Kannada
ರಕ್ತ ಸಂಬಂಧಿ, ಸೋದರ ಬಾಂಧವ್ಯದ, ಬಂಧುವರ್ಗದ
cousin in Punjabi
پھپھیرا phupherā, ਫੁਫੇਰਾ phupherā, ਚਚੇਰਾ cacerā, ਮਮੇਰਾ mamerā
cousin in Gujarati
ભાઈ bhāī
cousin in Sinhala
නෑනා nǣnā, මස්සිනා massinā
cousin in Tagalog
pinsan
cousin in Arabic
اِبْن عَمّ ibn ʕamm, بِنْت عَمّ bint ʕamm, اِبْن عَمَّة ibn ʕamma, بِنْت عَمَّة bint ʕamma
cousin in Malay
sepupu
cousin in Indonesian
sepupu
cousin in Persian
پسرعمو pesa’amu, دخترعمو doxtar’amu, پسرعمه pesar’amme, دخترعمه doxtar’amme
cousin in Thai
ลูกพี่ลูกน้อง lûuk-pîi-lûuk-nɔ́ɔng
cousin in Vietnamese
anh họ, chị họ, em họ
Kashmiri
پِتُر بوے pitur bōy, پِتٕر بیٚنہِ pitụr beni, پۄپھتُر بوے pọphtur bōy, پۄپھتٕر بیٚنہِ pọphtụr beni

Examples of cousin in a sentence

  • Couſin Harlovve, ſaid my aunt Hervey, allovv me to ſay, That my couſin Clary's prudence may be confided in.1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter VI. Miss Clarissa Harlowe, to Miss Howe.”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume I...
  • The house and park and a small estate around it were entailed on a distant cousin, and could not be alienated; […]1826, Mary Russell Mitford, “The Old House at Aberleigh”, in Our Village: Sketches of Rural Character and Scenery, volume II, London...
  • Despite being related by blood and commonly in the same generation, cousins can end up with completely different upbringings, class backgrounds, values, and interests.2023 December 19, Faith Hill, “The Great Cousin Decline”, in The Atlantic:
  • Jerry Rawlings has pissed off not only the Company (the CIA) but its cousin (the Mossad) in the Middle East.1994, Joel Bainerman, “The Dark Side of the Israeli–American Relationship”, in Inside the Covert Operations of the CIA & Israel’s Mossad...

All 40 example sentences with cousin

Synonyms of cousin

19 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of cousin

Forms of cousin

Noun
pluralcousins
pluralCousins
Verb
third-person singular presentcousins
present participlecousining
past participlecousined
pastcousined
Proper noun
pluralCousins
alternative formCouzen
alternative formCouzens
alternative formCozen
alternative formCozens
alternative formCozin
alternative formCozins
alternative formCossin
alternative formCossins
alternative formCosin
alternative formCosins
alternative formCusin
alternative formCusins
alternative formCussin

Plural of cousin: cousins

Origin of cousin

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...

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.

Words formed from cousin

Phrases with cousin

23 more phrasesFewer phrases

Questions about cousin

What does cousin mean?
Cousin means 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.
What is cousin in Hindi?
Cousin in Hindi is चचेरा भाई (cacerā bhāī), चचेरी बहन (cacerī bahan), फुफेरा भाई (phupherā bhāī). See Cousin meaning in Hindi.
How do you use cousin in a sentence?
Couſin Harlovve, ſaid my aunt Hervey, allovv me to ſay, That my couſin Clary's prudence may be confided in.
What part of speech is cousin?
Cousin can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce cousin?
Cousin is pronounced /ˈkʌzn̩/ (UK).
What is the plural of cousin?
The plural of cousin is cousins.

Words near cousin in the dictionary

  1. Couserans
  2. Cousers
  3. couses
  4. Coushatta
  5. Coushattas
  6. cousin
  7. cousin brother
  8. cousin brothers
  9. cousin german
  10. cousin germans
  11. cousin humper

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: cousin (page history and authors); Cousin (page history and authors); cousin (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); കസിൻ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); cousin (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); پھپھیرا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); ભાઈ (Gujarati) (page history and authors); නෑනා (Sinhala) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-cousin.ogg.

Cite this entry: “cousin.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cousin. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.