cousin

cousin · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*swésōr“sister”
2. Proto-Italic · derived from*swezrīnos“of or belonging to a sister”
3. Vulgar Latin · derived from*cōsuīnus
4. Latin · derived fromcōnsobrīnus“maternal cousin; first cousin; relation”
5. Old French · derived fromcosine“collateral female relative more distant than one’s sister; form of address used by a monarch to female monarchs or nobles”
6. Middle French · derived fromcosine
7. Anglo-Norman · derived fromcosine
8. Old French · derived fromcosin“collateral male relative more distant than one’s brother; form of address used by a monarch to male monarchs or nobles”
9. Middle French · derived fromcosin
10. Anglo-Norman · derived fromcosen
11. Middle English · inherited fromcosin
12. English todaycousin

The noun is derived from Middle English cosin, cosine, cosyn (“blood relative, kinsman or kinswoman; any relative; nephew or niece; first cousin; grandson or granddaughter; descendant; godchild or godparent, or a relative of a godchild or godparent; (figurative) closely related or similar thing”) [and other forms], and then: * from Anglo-Norman cosen, cosin [and other forms], Middle French cosin, and Old French cosin (“collateral male relative more distant than one’s brother; form of address used by a monarch to male monarchs or nobles”) [and other forms] (modern French cousin); and * from Anglo-Norman cosine, Middle French cosine, and Old French cosine (“collateral female relative more distant than one’s sister; form of address used by a monarch to female monarchs or nobles”) [and other forms] (modern French cousine), from Latin cōnsobrīnus (“maternal cousin; first cousin; relation”) (possibly through Vulgar Latin *cōsuīnus, from *cōsobīnus), from con- (prefix denoting a bringing together of several objects) + sobrīnus (“maternal cousin; sister’s son; any nephew”) (from a noun use of Proto-Italic *swezrīnos (“of or belonging to a sister”, adjective) (with the first syllable influenced by Latin soror (“sister”)), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swésōr (“sister”), possibly from *swé (“self”) + *h₁ésh₂r̥ (“blood”) (that is, a woman of one’s own blood) or *-sōr (feminine suffix)). The verb is derived from the noun.

Cousin · proper noun²

1. French · derived fromcousin, cousine
2. Old French · derived fromcusin, cosin, cousin“cousin”
3. Middle English · inherited fromCosyn
4. English todayCousin

From Middle English Cosyn, a surname from Norman terminology. From Anglo-Norman, from Old French cusin, cosin, cousin (“cousin”) (French cousin, cousine). Literally, “familial relative”.

Cousin · noun³

From cousin, in reference to an incident when a fan of the character Nick Knight, Sharon Scott, admitted that she had a fear of frogs and after two other members of the mailing list who were fans of Lucien LaCroix sent her chocolate frogs in the mail, replied that the two were so cruel that they must be cousins.

Words from the same roots