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cusinus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word cusinus

Confidence
Probable
First attested
1000, a charter of Marseille
Ultimate origin
Latin cōnsobrīnus
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin consobrinus
French cousin
Latin cusinus

Forms

cusinus m (genitive cusinī); second declension[1][2] Also spelled cosinus.[3]

Etymology

It is from Latin cōnsobrīnus (“cousin”), through its Romance outcome.[1][3] The usual explanation, which the GMLC reports, takes the Romance word as a shortened form of it;[1] Corominas, whom the GMLC follows, starts instead from the phrase cōnsobrīnus prīmus, whose length he thinks led to dissimilation and contraction.[1]

Compare Catalan cosí, Occitan cosin, French cousin and Italian cugino,[1] the Italian word being taken from French.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Du Cange quotes a charter of the year 1000 from Marseille, in which a man gives his cosinus (cousin) as surety.[3] The spelling cusinus appears in a Barcelona document of 1076, where the testator leaves land and a vineyard to “my cousin” Berengar William.[1]

Semantic evolution

It is a medieval word of charters and records, glossed by Du Cange as the equivalent of cōnsobrīnus and patruēlis and of French cousin,[3] and by the GMLC as a first cousin.[1] It is found in Catalonia, Provence and Italy, where a miracle collection names a witness as the cusinus of another,[3][1] and in Hungary, where it renders a father's brother's son.[2] The feminine is cusina.[1]

Timeline

  • 1000 – A charter from Marseille has the spelling cosinus.[3]
  • 1076 – A Barcelona document leaves land “to my cousin” (meo cusino).[1]
  • 1142 – A Catalan parchment names Poncii de Fonoiar cusini eorum.[1]
  • early 13th century – English borrows cousin from Old French.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) A cousin, especially a first cousin.[3][1][2]

Usage notes

Another cusinus (also cussinus, cosinus) is a spelling of the medieval word for a cushion, coxinus, which Niermeyer derives from coxa.[5][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glossarium Mediae Latinitatis Cataloniae (1960–; online ed. 2025), Barcelona: CSIC / Institució Milà i Fontanals, gmlc.imf.csic.es
  2. ^ a b c Bartal, Antal, et al. (1987–), Lexicon Latinitatis Medii Aevi Hungariae, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; online ed. ELTE
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
  4. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
Cite this entry

“Cusinus.” Etymologically, 24 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/cusinus. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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