cousin

The definition of a cousin is the child of your aunt and/or uncle.

(noun)

An example of a cousin is the baby born to your mother's sister.

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See cousin in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

  1. Obsolete a collateral relative more distant than a brother or sister, descended from a common ancestor
  2. 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)
  3. loosely any relative by blood or marriage
  4. a person or thing thought of as somehow related to another: our Mexican cousins
  5. a title of address used by one sovereign to another sovereign or to a nobleman

Origin: 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

Related Forms:

See cousin in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun
  1. A child of one's aunt or uncle. Also called first cousin.
  2. A relative descended from a common ancestor, such as a grandparent, by two or more steps in a diverging line.
  3. A relative by blood or marriage; a kinsman or kinswoman.
  4. A member of a kindred group or country: our Canadian cousins.
  5. Something similar in quality or character: “There's no mistaking soca for its distant Jamaican cousin, reggae” (Michael Saunders).
  6. Used as a form of address by a sovereign in addressing another sovereign or a high-ranking member of the nobility.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English cosin, a relative

Origin: , from Old French

Origin: , from Latin cōnsōbrīnus, cousin

Origin: : com-, com-

Origin: + sōbrīnus, cousin on the mother's side; see swesor- in Indo-European roots

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Related Forms:

  • cousˈin·hoodˌ noun
  • cousˈin·ly adjective
  • cousˈin·shipˌ noun

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