Word of the Day
: October 2, 2021cozen
playWhat It Means
Cozen means "to deceive, win over, or influence with pleasing words or actions or by trickery."
// Under the guise of a made-up charity, the scammers cozened people into giving them their credit card information.
// Five-year-old Mimi managed to cozen her grandmother into buying her the stuffed bear.
cozen in Context
"In the histories, indeed, we may be amazed and grieved to read how (seemingly) Melkor deceived and cozened others, and how … Melkor knew well the error of his ways…." — J.R.R. Tolkien, "Ósanwe-Kenta," ca. 1960
Did You Know?
Cozen is believed to come from the Italian word for a horse trader, cozzone. Horse-trading, as in the actual swapping of horses, usually involved bargaining and compromise—and, in fact, the term horse-trading has come to suggest any shrewd negotiation. It seems safe to assume that not all of these negotiations were entirely on the up-and-up. Given its association with horse traders, it's not too surprising that cozen suggests deception and fraud.
