cousin

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A child of your aunt or uncle.

   Grammar: Countable; plural is 'cousins'. Often used with 'my', 'your', etc.

   Patterns

   • my cousin
   • a cousin of mine
   • cousin to someone

   My cousin lives in Canada.

   She has three cousins on her mother's side.

   I'm going to my cousin's wedding next week.

2. 2nouncountable

   A relative who shares an ancestor with you, but is not a direct ancestor or descendant.

   Grammar: Countable; often used with 'distant' or 'first', 'second'.

   Patterns

   • a distant cousin
   • a first cousin
   • a second cousin

   He discovered a distant cousin in Australia.

   First cousins share grandparents.

   Second cousins share great-grandparents.

3. 3nouncountablefigurative

   A person or thing similar in nature or origin to another.

   Grammar: Countable; often used in the phrase 'cousin of'.

   Patterns

   • a cousin of something
   • a distant cousin of something

   The violin is a cousin of the viola.

   Democracy in ancient Athens is a distant cousin of modern democracy.

Word forms

Common combinations

first cousin

My first cousin and I grew up together.

distant cousin

He's a distant cousin I've never met.

cousin once removed

She's my cousin once removed, meaning my mother's cousin.

cousin on my mother's side

That cousin on my mother's side lives in Spain.

Synonyms and how they differ

relative

Relative is a general term for any family member; cousin is more specific.

kin

Kin is a formal or literary word for relatives; cousin is the everyday term.

Word family

cousinly adjective

Behaving like a cousin; friendly but not close.

Commonly confused: cousin or couscous?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “cousin”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words