What does "cousin" mean?
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.
Cousin
/ˈkʌzn̩/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: 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.
- Grammar: cousin is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: aunt, auntie, blood brother, blood relative.
- Useful contrasts: close relative, stranger, unrelated item.
- Usage evidence: During his stay in London, he is going to visit his cousin.
How to use "cousin"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "cousin" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "cousin" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "cousin" as the right word for your sentence.
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "cousin" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
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.
"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."
- 2 A fan of the character Lucien LaCroix from the Canadian television series Forever Knight. slang
"> 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."
- 3 the child of your aunt or uncle wordnet
- 4 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.; 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. specifically
"[…] 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."
- 5 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.; 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. specifically
"Although we were cousins, we grew up like sisters."
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 A person of an ethnicity or nationality regarded as closely related to someone of another ethnicity or nationality. in-plural
"[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."
- 7 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, […]"
- 8 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.
"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."
- 9 Something kindred or related to something else; a relative. also, attributive, figuratively
"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."
- 10 A female sexual partner who is not a person's wife; specifically, a prostitute. obsolete
"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; […] [W]hy ſiſter do you thinke I'le cunny-catch you, vvhen you are my cozen?"
- 11 A person who is swindled; a dupe. obsolete
"[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 Pennyfather."
- 12 A person who womanizes; a seducer, a womanizer. obsolete, rare
"Those whom Venus is said to rule, […] Wenchers, Leachers, Shakers, Smockers, Cousins, Cullies, Stallions and Bellibumpers; […]"
Verb
- 1 To address (someone) as "cousin". rare, transitive
"[N]o, no, let me alone to cozen you rarely."
- 2 To regard (oneself or someone) as a cousin to another person. also, rare, reflexive, transitive
"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 to tell all the world that we're married, and get me turned away? / Shuffle. No; but the grenadier? / Mary. Came to see the cook; so to prevent all the fat being in the fire, I cousined him, and made him a relation. / Shuffle. Yes; and remember you've cousined me too."
- 3 To associate with someone or something on a close basis. US, informal, intransitive, regional
"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."
- 4 To visit a cousin or other relation. US, informal, intransitive, regional
"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."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname from Middle English.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"During his stay in London, he is going to visit his cousin."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "cousin"?
Common synonyms include: aunt, auntie, blood brother, blood relative, brethren, brother.
How do you use "cousin" in a sentence?
During his stay in London, he is going to visit his cousin.
How do you pronounce "cousin"?
Pronounced /ˈkʌzn̩/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
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”.
Etymology 3
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.