cousin

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkʌz.ən/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English cosin, borrowed from Old French cosin, cusin (“nephew; kinsman; cousin”),^[2][3][4] from Latin cōnsobrīnus (“mother's sister's child”),^[2][3] from com- (“with, together”) and sobrīnus “cousin on the mother's side”, earlier *sosrīnos, from soror (“sister”).^[2][3][5] It is related to sister.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A relative by blood or marriage: about 1225 in King Horn according to Barnhart, the early 13th century in Etymonline; it is a surname from 1160.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense, the child of an uncle or aunt, is attested by about 1300,^[2][3] but throughout Middle English the word was also used of grandchildren, godchildren and especially nephews and nieces.^[2][6] A closely related thing is from the late 14th century.^[2] From 1418 it was used by one sovereign addressing another.^[7] First cousin and second cousin are from 1660,^[7] and kindred nations, such as the British and Americans, are cousins from 1837.^[7] Old English had separate words for some kinds of cousin, such as fæderan sunu “father's brother's son”.^[2]

Timeline

• 1160 – a surname.^[3]
• c. 1225 – a relative.^[3]
• c. 1300 – the child of an uncle or aunt.^[2][3]
• 1418 – between sovereigns.^[7]
• 1660 – first and second cousin.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A child of one's uncle or aunt.
2. A more distant relative descended from the same ancestor.
3. A person or thing related to another by nature or origin: our American cousins.

Word family

• cousinhood
• cousinly
• cousinship
• cousinage
• cater-cousin
• coz
• cousinry

Related words

• sister

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press