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.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Cousin entered Middle English from Old French cosin, which came from Latin consobrinus “a mother’s sister’s child.” In English it broadened to a child of any aunt or uncle and then to other relatives more distant than a sibling; formerly it could also refer to a nephew or niece.

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…

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary