cugino

Forms

cugino m (plural cugini, feminine cugina)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French cosin (modern French cousin), recorded in French from 1080, which goes back through changes not fully explained to Latin cōnsobrīnus (“son of one's mother's sister; cousin”), formed from con- and sobrīnus (“cousin”), a derivative of soror (“sister”).^{[2][3][4][1][5]} DEI, Treccani and the GDLI explain the short form as a familiar, affectionate pronunciation of the Latin word, which must have been widespread: Medieval Latin cusinus is recorded at Farfa in 1003, and cosinus at Bologna in 1198 and 1279.^[6][7][8][2] Canello, cited by Körting, thought that the strong reshaping came from its frequent use in children's speech.^[9]

Aebischer held, as the TLIO reports, that the Italian forms come directly from Vulgar Latin *cosinus or *consinus rather than from French.^[10] The same French word gave Old Occitan cozin and Catalan cosí.^[6][11] The Latin word was also inherited, as in Friulian consovrin, while Spanish sobrino and Portuguese sobrinho mean “nephew”.^[11][9] The learned consobrino is a doublet.^[1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Cremonese poet Uguccione da Lodi, at the beginning of the 13th century.^[10] DELI dates the Tuscan cugino to Cecco Angiolieri, before 1313, for the son of an uncle or aunt, and Zingarelli to 1275.^[2][3][12]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian distinguished degrees of kinship with phrases such as fratello cugino, frate cugino, cugino carnale and cugino germano for a first cousin and nipote cugino for a cousin's son; in a Latin text the word could gloss patruelis, the son of a father's brother.^[10][13] Giovanni Villani calls Don Arrigo, son of the king of Castile, “cugino del re Carlo”.^[8]

The kings of France used cousin as a title for relatives, great vassals, dignitaries and cardinals, and Italian used cugino in that sense.^[4][12] In the 19th century the Carbonari called one another cugini, and in recent use the word can name a member of the same Mafia family.^[4][14] Figuratively it is used of peoples of common origin, especially of the French as seen from Italy.^[4][14] The abstract cuginanza is recorded in 1941.^[2]

Timeline

• 1003 – Medieval Latin cusinus appears at Farfa.^[2][6]
• 1080 – Old French cosin is recorded.^[2][4]
• 1198 – Cosinus appears at Bologna.^[6]
• Early 13th century – Uguccione da Lodi uses the word.^[10]
• Before 1313 – Cecco Angiolieri uses cugino.^[2][3]
• 19th century – The Carbonari call one another cugini.^[4][14]
• 1941 – Cuginanza is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A cousin, the son of an uncle or aunt: Domani arrivano i miei cugini da Torino.^[4][14][15]
2. (law) A collateral relative, as in cugino di quarto grado.^[4][12]
3. (figurative) A member of a people or community of common origin.^[4][14]
4. (historical) The name the members of the Carboneria used for one another.^[4][14][15]
5. (historical) A title the kings of France gave to relatives, great vassals, dignitaries and cardinals.^[4][12][14]
6. A member of the same Mafia family.^[14]

Word family

• cuginanza
• biscugino

Related words

• consobrino
• sorella
• French cousin

Usage notes

A cugino di secondo grado is the child of a parent's cousin, also called biscugino.^[12][14] A separate cugino is a local name for the sandfly (pappataci): DEI records it at Pisa and takes it from French cousin “gnat”, a diminutive formed from Latin culex (“gnat”), while GRADIT (1956) suggests a Latin *culicinus.^[6][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 1186
7. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
8. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
9. ^ a b Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
10. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
11. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ a b c d e f g h i Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
15. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse