noun
cousin
KUHZN
noun
1
The child of one's aunt or uncle.
"My cousin flew in from Toronto for the wedding."
"We spent every summer with our cousins at the lake house."
2
More broadly, any distant relative who is not a direct ancestor or descendant.
"She traced her family tree and found third cousins she never knew about."
How to Use Cousin
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA relative — usually the child of your aunt or uncle, though the word can stretch to cover more distant family.
Common pairings
first cousin
second cousin
distant cousin
cousin once removed
Word Forms
cousined past tense, cousins plural, Cousins plural, Cousins plural, cousins singular
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Etymology
From Old French cosin, ultimately from Latin cōnsobrīnus, meaning a cousin on the mother's side — from con- ("together") plus sobrīnus ("maternal relative").