Cousin

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈkʌzn̩/

Definitions

1. A child of one's aunt or uncle, or more distantly, a relative descended from a common ancestor
2. A family member who is the offspring of one's aunt or uncle, representing a direct familial bond without being a sibling or parent
3. A person who shares ancestry with someone through siblings of parents, typically not a sibling or direct ancestor

Etymology: Latin "consobrinus" meant a child of one's mother's sister, a maternal cousin, and the Romans kept a separate word for the paternal side. The Latin prefix "con-" signals a bringing together, so the term was built around shared kinship with one's mother's family. Its Latin form was also tied to the word for "sister," which is why the first syllable seems to echo "soror." The word passed into medieval French as "cosin" and "cosine," terms that covered a wide range of relatives, not only first cousins. Old French used "cosin" as a form of address between monarchs and nobles, so a word for a blood relation also became a courtly title of respect. Middle English borrowed the French forms and used "cosin" for nephews, nieces, grandchildren, godchildren and any close kinsperson. Over time the sense narrowed to the modern meaning, the child of one's aunt or uncle. English later made it a verb as well, though the verb grew out of the noun.

Synonyms: relative, kin, family member, relation, brother/sister

Antonyms: stranger, outsider, alien, nonrelative, nonkin