Cozen

//ˈkoʊzən// name, verb

name, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To become cozy; (by extension) to become acquainted, comfortable, or familiar with. intransitive

    ""As I see it, Master Fraser, a 'bairn' ought to be verra concerned when a mon thrice her age cozens up to her.""

  2. 2
    To cheat; to defraud; to deceive, usually by small arts, or in a pitiful way. archaic

    "[…] good Vulcan, for Cupids sake that hath cousned us all: befriend us as thou maiest […]"

  3. 3
    cheat or trick wordnet
  4. 4
    act with artful deceit wordnet
  5. 5
    be false to; be dishonest with wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

Synonyms

All synonyms
deceiveabusebeatbeguilebeguilebeguile of

Example

More examples

""As I see it, Master Fraser, a 'bairn' ought to be verra concerned when a mon thrice her age cozens up to her.""

Etymology

Etymology 1

From coz(y) + -en.

Etymology 2

Perhaps from obsolete Italian cozzonare (“to cheat”), from cozzone (“middleman, broker”), from Latin cōciō (“dealer”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.