cousin

Definition of Cousin

(noun) The child of an individual’s aunt or uncle.

Examples of Cousin

• An individual’s father’s brother’s child.
  
• Your mother’s sister’s child.

Types of Cousin

• cross cousin
• parallel cousin

Cousin Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: cous·in

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ˈkʌzən/
• British English – /ˈkʌz(ə)n/

Usage Notes

• Plural: cousins
• Cousins are delineated by first cousin, second cousin, third cousin, etc., based on the genealogical distance from an individual. For example, the child of your first cousin is your second cousin or cousin once removed. A first cousin is also called a cousin-german or full cousin.
• A cousin is part of an extended family.
• Whether cousins can marry varies by local law or the normative incest taboo of a group. Furthermore, one culture may ban marriages between cousins while others require them.
• Two people who are cousins share (noun) cousinhood or (noun) cousinship and are (adverb) cousinly related.

Related Quotation

• “Families of orientation, procreation, and cohabitation provide us with some of the most important roles we will assume in life. The nuclear family roles (such as parent, child, husband, wife, and sibling) combine with extended family roles (such as grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin, and in-law) to form the kinship system” (Strong, Devault, and Cohen 2011:19).

Related Videos

Additional Information

• Family and Kinship Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Word origin of “cousin” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com

Related Terms

• cross cousin
• family
• father
• marriage
• mother
• parallel cousin
• relative

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Reference

Strong, Bryan, Christine DeVault, and Theodore F. Cohen. 2011. The Marriage and Family Experience: Intimate Relationships in a Changing Society. 11th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning.

Cite the Definition of Cousin

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “cousin.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved September 17, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/cousin/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

cousin. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/cousin/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “cousin.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed September 17, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/cousin/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“cousin.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 17 Sep. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/cousin/>.