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Cousin

A cousin is a relative that is the child of a parent's sibling; this is more specifically referred to as a first cousin.

For other uses, see Cousin (disambiguation).

More generally, in the kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of relationship in which relatives are two or more generations away from their most recent common ancestor. For this definition degrees and removals are used to further specify the relationship.


Degree measures how distant the relationship is from the most recent common ancestor(s). If the cousins do not come from the same generation, removal is specified, as removal measures the difference in generations between the two cousins. When the removal is not specified, no removal is assumed.[1][2]


Various governmental entities have established systems for legal use that can precisely specify kinship with common ancestors any number of generations in the past; for example, in medicine and in law, a first cousin is a type of third-degree relative.

The terms full cousin and cousin-german are used to specify a first cousin with no removals.[6]

[5]

The terms cousin-uncle/aunt and cousin-niece/nephew are sometimes used to describe the direction of the removal of the relationship, especially in Mennonite,[8] Indian, and Pakistani families. These terms relate to a first cousin once removed, uncle/aunt referring to an older generation and niece/nephew for younger ones. For additional removals grand/great are applied to these relationships.[8] For example, a cousin-granduncle is a male first cousin twice removed that comes from an older generation, and a cousin-grandniece is a female first cousin twice removed who comes from a younger generation.

[7]

The term is sometimes used for the grandchild of a first cousin, or the first cousin of a grandparent: a first cousin twice removed.

grandcousin

The term kissing cousin is sometimes used for a distant relative who is familiar enough to be greeted with a .

kiss

Collateral descendant

Consanguinity

Cousin marriage

Family

Sibling

Second-degree relative

European kinship system

Archived 2015-03-08 at the Wayback Machine

Genealogy.com definition of various cousins

Archived 2015-03-11 at the Wayback Machine

Genealogy.com: What makes a cousin?

Genetic Genealogy