cosí

Forms

cosí m (plural cosins, feminine cosina, feminine plural cosines)^[1] The DCVB records /kuˈzi/, /koˈzi/ and /koˈsi/; the feminine is cosina.^[2] Eivissa says cusí, and the Capcir kuzís in the plural.^[3] The form with final /n/, cosin germà, lasted long and is still alive from the Ebre to the south of Valencia and in Mallorca and Menorca.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin cōnsobrīnus (“cousin, child of a mother's sister”), altered in a way that is not fully explained.^[3][2][1] Coromines thinks the phrase ⟨consobrinus primus⟩ “first cousin” was contracted in Vulgar Latin to *consoprimus, then reshaped as ⟨cosimprimo⟩ and finally ⟨cosin⟩ once ⟨primo⟩ “first” was dropped;^[3][4] Bruguera and the GDLC give the stages ⟨cosob(r)inprimu⟩, ⟨cosuinprimu⟩, ⟨cosinprim⟩, ⟨cosin⟩, when ⟨cosí prim⟩ alternated with ⟨cosí segon⟩.^[3][4][5]

The same word is Occitan cosin, French cousin and Italian cugino.^[3][6] The REW takes the Italian word from French, while Coromines regards it as the regular native outcome.^[6][3] Spanish shortened the same phrase the other way, to Spanish primo.^[3][1]

The Latin word is formed con- and sobrīnus.^[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the feminine cusina, in a will of 1034 in the cartulary of Sant Cugat whose passage is wholly Catalan: the testator leaves a red berregà to Ermengars, cusina sua.^[3] The masculine appears in Latin dress, meo cusino, twice in a Barcelona document of 1076.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the 13th century cosí germà named the first cousin, the child of brothers or sisters, as against more distant cousins: cosina germana is in a document of about 1251 and in Desclot.^[3] Jaume I already contrasts Catalan cosí with Aragonese sobrino in the mouth of an Aragonese noble.^[3] For the second degree Catalan uses cosí segon and cosí prim, and Roussillon says petits cosins.^[3]

In the Middle Ages the word was also used for any relative and figuratively for something very like another: the Catalan Proverbis de Salamó call hope cosina de Déu, and Bernat Metge calls sleep cusí de la mort.^[8][9] The DCVB adds the noble youth brought up at a prince's court and a form of address among sailors.^[2]

Timeline

• 1034 – cusina in a will in the cartulary of Sant Cugat.^[3][4]
• 1076 – meo cusino in a Barcelona document.^[3]
• c. 1251 – cosina germana “first cousin” in a document probably from the Alta Ribagorça.^[3]
• 1261 – cosí in the Furs de València, CICA's first record.^[10]
• c. 1274 – Llull uses cosí in the Benedicta tu in mulieribus.^[9]
• 1839 – Labèrnia defines the word as the child of a parent's brother or sister.^[11]
• 1927 – Pal·las distinguishes cosí germà and cosí prim.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. cousin: a child of one's uncle or aunt; also cosí germà, first cousin.^[13][5]
2. A child of a parent's cousin; also cosí prim or cosí segon, second cousin.^[13]
3. (dated) A relative in general; something very like another.^[2][8]

Word family

• cosinalla
• cosinatge

Related words

• Latin cōnsobrīnus
• French cousin
• Spanish primo

Usage notes

Cosí is also an old literary form of the preterite of cosir “to sew”, a different word.^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. cosí
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 2, 989
4. ^ a b c Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 247
5. ^ a b Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. cosí
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 2165
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. consobrinus
8. ^ a b Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. cosí
9. ^ a b Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. cosí
10. ^ Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. cosí
11. ^ Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. cosí
12. ^ Vallès, Emili (1927), Pal·las: diccionari català il·lustrat, Barcelona: Salvat, p. s.v. cosí
13. ^ a b Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. cosí
14. ^ Viccionari (Catalan Wiktionary), https://ca.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. cosí