COUSIN

cousin, first cousin, cousin-german, full cousin

(noun) the child of your aunt or uncle

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

cousin (plural cousins)

The child of a person's uncle or aunt; a first cousin.

Synonym: first cousin

Any relation who is not a direct ancestor or descendant but part of one's extended family; one more distantly related than an uncle, aunt, granduncle, grandaunt, nephew, niece, grandnephew, grandniece, etc.

(obsolete) 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.

(figurative) Something kindred or related to something else.

(espionage, slang, mostly, in the plural) A member of the British intelligence services (from an American perspective) or of the American intelligence services (from a British perspective).

Usage notes

• People who have common grandparents but different parents are first cousins. People who have common great-grandparents but no common grandparents and different parents are second cousins, and so on.

• In general, one's nth cousin is anyone other than oneself, one's siblings or nearer cousins found by going back n+1 generations and then forward n+1 generations. One of one's first cousin's parents is one's parents' siblings. One of one's second cousin's grandparents is one of one's grandparents' siblings.

• The child of one's first cousin is one's first cousin once removed; the grandchild of one's first cousin is one's first cousin twice removed, and so on. For example, if Phil and Marie are first cousins, and Marie has a son Andre, then Phil and Andre are first cousins once removed.

• In the southern US, the relation is considered the number of links between two people of common ancestry to the common aunt or uncle.

• A patrilineal or paternal cousin is a father's niece or nephew, and a matrilineal or maternal cousin a mother's. Paternal and maternal parallel cousins are father's brother's child and mother's sister's child, respectively; paternal and maternal cross cousins are father's sister's child and mother's brother's child, respectively.

Hyponyms

• cousin-aunt

• cousin brother

• cousin german

• cousin-german

• cousin-in-law

• cousin prime

• cousin sister

• cousin-uncle

• cross-cousin

• first cousin

• kissing cousin

• parallel cousin

• second cousin

• third cousin

Anagrams

• scioun

Source: Wiktionary


Cous"in (kz"'n), n. Etym: [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.]

1. One collaterally related more remotely than a brother or sister; especially, the son or daughter of an uncle or aunt.

Note: The children of brothers and sisters are usually denominated first cousins, or cousins-german. In the second generation, they are called second cousins. See Cater-cousin, and Quater-cousin. Thou art, great lord, my father's sister's son, A cousin-german to great Priam's seed. Shak.

2. 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. My noble lords and cousins, all, good morrow. Shak.

Cous"in, n.

Definition: Allied; akin. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

28 April 2024

POLYGENIC

(adjective) of or relating to an inheritable character that is controlled by several genes at once; of or related to or determined by polygenes


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

Contrary to popular belief, coffee beans are not technically beans. They are referred to as such because of their resemblance to legumes. A coffee bean is a seed of the Coffea plant and the source for coffee. It is the pit inside the red or purple fruit, often referred to as a cherry. Just like ordinary cherries, the coffee fruit is also a so-called stone fruit.

coffee icon