cousin

[ˈkʌz.n̩]

[ˈkʌz.ɪn]

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A cousin is a relative who shares one or both parents with you, but isn't your brother or sister.

When people talk about their cousins, it's usually in the context of family gatherings and relationships. For instance, if someone invites you to meet their cousin from out of town, that means they have a sibling whose child is visiting, or they might be talking about one of their parent's siblings' kids. When we refer to our cousins, we're often thinking about how close we are to them - some are super close and we see them all the time, while others live far away and we don't get to spend as much time together. It's also common for people to talk about their "first" or "second" cousin - it just means that you share a different number of grandparents with each other, which determines how closely related you are.

How common is "cousin"?

Word cousin is considered uncommon in modern English.
It appears most frequently in fiction texts and less often in other writings.

Definitions

noun

The child of a person's uncle or aunt; a first cousin.
Example: I think my cousin is a good man.
Any relation who is not a direct ancestor or descendant but part of one's extended family; one more distantly related than an uncle, aunt, granduncle, grandaunt, nephew, niece, grandnephew, grandniece, etc.
A title formerly given by a king to a nobleman, particularly to those of the council. In English writs, etc., issued by the crown, it signifies any earl.
Something kindred or related to something else.
(chiefly in the plural) A member of the British intelligence services (from an American perspective) or of the American intelligence services (from a British perspective).

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first cousin