(kuz′ən) noun
1. One collaterally related by descent from a common ancestor, but not a brother or sister. Children of brothers and sisters are first cousins; children of first cousins are second cousins to each other. A first cousin once removed is the child of one's first cousin; a first cousin twice removed is the grandchild of one's first cousin, etc. A second cousin once removed is the child of one's second cousin, etc.
2. A noble of the king's council, or a fellow sovereign: a style of address used by a king.
3. One of a kindred race: our English cousins.
4. Obs. Any collateral relative more distant than a brother or sister.
—v.t. To claim as a cousin or relative. [<OF cosin <L consobrinus child of a maternal aunt]
—cous′in·ly adjective & adverb

(k·za′), Victor,
1792–1867, French philosopher.