cousin

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The child of your aunt or uncle.

   My cousin and I grew up in the same town.

2. 2
   noun

   A more distant relative who is part of your wider family.

   We invited dozens of cousins to the wedding.

3. 3
   noun

   Something or someone closely related to another.

   The lemur is a distant cousin of the monkey.

Common collocations

• distant cousin Adjective + noun
• first cousin Adjective + noun
• second cousin Adjective + noun

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 Ang…

Topics