Word.ws English Dictionary

first cousin

first cousin noun: a child of a parent's sibling; a nephew or niece of a parent; a child of one's uncle or aunt.

first cousin: a child of a parent's sibling; a nephew or niece of a parent; a child of one's uncle or aunt
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Noun

first cousin (plural first cousins)

  1. A child of a parent's sibling; a nephew or niece of a parent; a child of one's uncle or aunt.
  2. A relative who has with the other person only two grandparents or one grandparent (maternal or paternal) in common, but parents are different.
  3. (broadly, figuratively) Anything closely related.
    • […] that coarseness which is first cousin to sin.1878, Connecticut Churchman, volume 37, page 246
    • [H]e was afraid the Mexicans, who were, he claimed, first cousin to the spigotties, would catch us off our guard and give us the same treatment.1920, Boys' Life, volume 10, number 4, page 22

Synonyms of first cousin

Forms of first cousin

pluralfirst cousins

Words formed from first cousin

Questions about first cousin

What does first cousin mean?
First cousin means a child of a parent's sibling; a nephew or niece of a parent; a child of one's uncle or aunt.
What part of speech is first cousin?
First cousin is a noun.
What is the plural of first cousin?
The plural of first cousin is first cousins.

Words near first cousin in the dictionary

  1. first contact
  2. First Contact Day
  3. first contacts
  4. first cosmic velocities
  5. first cosmic velocity
  6. first cousin
  7. first cousin once removed
  8. first cousin thrice removed
  9. first cousin twice removed
  10. first cousins
  11. first cousins once removed

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: first cousin (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.

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