cousin

noun cous·in \ ˈkə-zən \

Definition of cousin

1 a : a child of one's uncle or aunt

b : a relative descended from one's grandparent or more remote ancestor by two or more steps and in a different line

c : kinsman, relative

a distant cousin

2 : one associated with or related to another : counterpart

Rural children deserve as good an education as their city cousins get.
—Benjamin Fine

3 —used as a title by a sovereign in addressing a nobleman

4 : a person of a race or people ethnically or culturally related

our English cousins

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cousinhood

play \ˈkə-zən-ˌhu̇d\ noun

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cousinly

adjective

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cousinship

play \ˈkə-zən-ˌship\ noun

See cousin defined for English-language learners

See cousin defined for kids

Examples of cousin in a Sentence

Everyone came to the wedding, including a distant cousin no one had heard from in years.
The cricket is a cousin of the grasshopper.
hurricanes and their cousins, typhoons

Recent Examples of cousin from the Web

Additionally, the Rams are blessed with a quartet of talented individuals as sets of cousins, the Banks (Antwain and Deonta both juniors) and McDowell's (Christian and Naseem both seniors).

— randy mcroberts, The Aegis, "2017 high school football preview," 30 Aug. 2017
Like many cousins, Tyler and Ryan Lilomaiava often clash.

— rick mauch, star-telegram, "Why this football season will be a special reunion for two L.D. Bell cousins," 29 Aug. 2017
Jacob Drake, 21, of North Lewisburg, Ohio, was among the missing, according to a cousin, Brandie Roberts.

— eric schmitt and richard c. paddock, New York Times, "Commander of Naval Fleet Relieved of Duty After Collisions," 22 Aug. 2017
Given how closely related Neanderthals are to our own species, the researchers’ ability to identify a single protein sequence specific to our evolutionary cousins is stunning.

— gemma tarlach, Discover Magazine, "Proteomics: Moving Beyond DNA to Study the Past," 15 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'cousin.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of cousin

Middle English cosin, from Anglo-French cusin, cosin, from Latin consobrinus, from com- + sobrinus second cousin, from soror sister — more at sister

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year