cousin 
cousin
Definition
cousin (kuz′ən)
noun
- Obsolete a collateral relative more distant than a brother or sister, descended from a common ancestor
- the son or daughter of one's uncle or aunt: also called first cousin, full cousin, or cousin-german: one's second cousin is a child of one's parent's first cousin; one's first cousin once removed is a child of one's first cousin (or, conversely, a first cousin of one's parent)
- loosely any relative by blood or marriage
- a person or thing thought of as somehow related to another our Mexican cousins
- a title of address used by one sovereign to another sovereign or to a nobleman
Etymology: ME cosin < OFr < L consobrinus, orig., child of a mother's sister, also cousin, relation < com-, with + sobrinus, cousin on the mother's side < base of soror, sister
cous′·inly adjective, adverb
cous′·in·ship′ noun
cousin
Synonyms
cousin
n.
cousin
Usage Examples
Converse of object
- marry: Cousins marrying cousins: A non-branching family tree I'm not sick, I've just got fading genes.
- remove: Thus he was a first cousin once removed of Emma's son Edward the Confessor.
- lose: The next time you get advice about your mortgage purchase from your uncle or a long lost cousin, think about what really matters.
Adjective modifier
- distant: She wasn't looking for a handout from her distant cousin Roz, just a job at her thriving In the Garden nursery.
- long-lost: A housewife has inherited a rare Shakespeare book from a long-lost cousin which could fetch millions at auction.
- transatlantic: If you want to just what our Transatlantic cousins needed changing then check out the extras on this DVD.
- antipodean: The Yanks seem to get the English accent mixed up with our Antipodean cousins, just not cricket!
- elder: Like her elder cousin Lizzie has ambition and the will to go against the conventions of her Victorian peers.
- American: Oh, the showy American cousins, they do love a parade.
Modifies a noun
- marriage: I often found the confusion that resulted from my enquiries on cousin marriage most informative.
Noun used with modifier
- primate: This is especially true when the story gets around to our closest primate cousins - the apes.
- country: Over 1,500 were to arrive for an unlimited stay with their " country cousins.
- boy: A four-year-old and his little sister were visiting their very tall teenage boy cousins.
Possessives
- husband: Her cousin's husband was Nicholas Jelf Sewell Edward.
- wedding: She is going to be a bridesmaid at her cousin's wedding soon.
- wife: My cousin's wife went through this last summer.
- son: Attended the wedding of my mom's cousin's son, just north of Helsinki.
Possessives
- father: He apparently succeeded to the family property on the death of his father's cousin, Hugh, 6.A.
- mother: For example, your mother's first cousin is your first cousin, once removed.
Preposition: of
- mine: My parents had hopes of my being an accountant or a dentist like a cousin of mine.
cousin Quotes
The little cousin is dead, by foul subtraction, A green bough fromVirginia's aged tree.
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