Coz

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Used informally as a shortened form of the word 'because' in casual speech or writing
2. A colloquial contraction standing in for 'because' in relaxed conversation or informal text
3. An informal abbreviation of 'because' employed in casual dialogue or everyday communication

Etymology: Coz is simply cousin with its ending clipped off, a shortening that was common in informal speech. It is used as a term of address for a cousin or, more loosely, for a close relation or friend, and it is the sort of shortening that stays affectionate rather than formal. Cousin itself has a surprisingly narrow Latin origin. It descends through Old French "cosin" from Latin "consobrinus," which meant a cousin on one's mother's side, literally the child of one's mother's sister. English later widened the sense to all cousins, so the word that now covers any relative once specified a single line of kinship. Shakespeare used "coz" in several plays, where it often appears in the mouths of characters speaking familiarly to a relative or kinsman.

Synonyms: cousin, relative