# first/second cousin



## Kraus

In *Italian* we say "cugino di primo/secondo grado".

The term "cugino di secondo grado" also translates "cousin once removed" (the father's cousin or the son's cousin).


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## OldAvatar

In Romanian:
Văr/Vară de gradul întâi / al doilea.

For second and further „grades”, sometimes the expression *văr îndepărtat* (_distant cousin_) is used.


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## deine

Lithuanian:

pirmos eilės/antros eilės pusbrolis.


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## Cassiope

Greek:

πρώτος ξάδερφος / δεύτερος ξάδερφος

or rarely

ξάδερφος πρώτου / δεύτερου βαθμού (first or second degree).


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## Petter

In Norwegian,
1st cousin = fetter (male) & kusine (female)
2nd cousin = tremenning (male & female)


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## jazyk

In Portuguese:
cugino di primo grado - primo de primeiro grau
cugino di secondo grado - primo de segundo grau


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## Lugubert

Petter said:


> In Norwegian,
> 1st cousin = fetter (male) & kusine (female)
> 2nd cousin = tremenning (male & female)


German (from dictionary):
Vetter (m), Base (f)
Andergeschwisterkind, but normally (entfernter) Verwandter '(distant) relative'

Swedish:
kusin (m, f)
tremänning _or_ syssling (m, f)


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## Maja

In Serbia:

first cousin (and smt even second) - brat (brother), sestra (sister)

cousin (in general) - rođak (male), rođaka (female).


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## Mahaodeh

First cousin:  In Arabic there are 8 names for a cousin:
ibn-am (son of paternal uncle), bint-am (daughter of paternal uncle), ibn-amah (son of paternal aunt), bint-amah (daughter of paternal aunt), ibn-khal (son of maternal uncle), bint-khal (daughter of maternal uncle), ibn-khala (son of maternal aunt), bint-khala (daughter of maternal aunt).

There 32 names for a second cousin.  I wouldn't want to bore you by listing them.


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## papillon

Maja said:


> In Serbia:
> first cousin (and smt even second) - *brat* (brother), *sestra* (sister)


What about just brother and sister?
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In Russian names for various cousins are derived by adding the degree adjective to the word for brother - brat or sister - sestra. So we think of cousins as we do of brothesr/sisters, just more removed. For males:
Brother: *brat* (брат)
First cousin: dvoyurodnyj *brat* (двоюродный брат, ~second-degree brother)
Second cousin: troyurodnyj *brat* (троюродный брат, third-degree brother)

Same goes for female cousins.


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## Lugubert

Mahaodeh said:


> In Arabic ...
> There 32 names for a second cousin. I wouldn't want to bore you by listing them.


It would be interesting to know the number of such names for East Asian languages. No lists, please!


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## DearPrudence

In *French*:
*first cousin*: *cousin (germain)* [male], *cousine (germaine) *[female]
*second cousin*: *petit-cousin *[male],* petit-cousine* [female] (literally _'little/small cousin'_, as we have 'petit-fils' for 'grandson')
or *cousin issu de germain* [male], *cousine issu de germain* [female]
or *neveu à la mode de Bretagne* [male],* nièce à la mode de Bretagne* [female] (far less usual I would say. Literally something like 'nephew Brittany-style')


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## Ghabi

Lugubert said:


> It would be interesting to know the number of such names for East Asian languages.


Due to the one-child policy and other social reasons, the idea of "cousin" is a bit moribund in today's Mainland China. Instead, people just use the words of siblings for cousins. The words of siblings are four in number (ge1 "elder brother", di4 "younger brother", jie3 "elder sister", mei4 "younger sister").

Even in the traditional system, the appellation is not complicated: just add the tag tang2 to those who share the same surname with you (i.e. the same paternal lineage) and biao3 to those who don't. So in total, there are only 2X4=8, for either first cousins or second cousins.


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## Gavril

Welsh has unique terms for at least 5 degrees of cousins:

1st cousin: *cefnder* (male), *cyfnither* (female) 
2nd cousin: *cyfyrder* (both genders, though the suffixed form _cyfyrderes_ is sometimes used for female second cousins)
3rd cousin: *caifn* (both genders)
4th cousin: *gorchaifn* (id.)
5th cousin: *gorchaw* (id.)

_cefnder_, _cyfnither_, and _cyfyrder_ were all originally compounds ending in _der_- "true"; _cefnder_ is formed from _caifn_ (see below) + _der_-, _cyfnither_ is from _cyf_- "with" + _nith_ "niece" + -_der_; _cyfyrder_ is from _cyf_- + an unknown stem + -_der_.

_caifn_ is from earlier *_kom-nios_ < *_kom_- "with" + *_nepot-_ "grandson, nephew"; _gorchaifn_ is the same word prefixed with _gor_- "over, super-".

_gorchaw_ contains the word _caw _"bond, relation" prefixed with _gor_-.


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## amikama

Hebrew:

*cousin*: בן-דוד (male), בת-דודה (female). Literally "son of uncle" and "daughter of aunt", but could be applied to aunt's son and uncle's daughter respectively. 
There are also בן-דודה ("son of aunt") and בת-דוד ("daughter of uncle"), as well as דודן (male cousin) and דודנית (female cousin), but they are less common. 

for *2nd cousin* you add מדרגה שנייה (lit. "of second degree") after the word for cousin, e.g. בן-דוד מדרגה שנייה. Ordinals sometimes used too: בן-דוד שני (lit. "second cousin"). The same goes for 3rd, 4th etc. cousins.


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## elfinitty

In formal Turkish second cousin is called _ikinci dereceden kuzen_ but you can't really hear people saying it in daily life.Like when I mention my mom's cousin's son to someone I refer to him as my cousin or explain the situation in the detailed way.We call all first cousins _kuzen_ regardless of gender or anything.However there is a saying _emmioğlu _which means dad's brother's son.Also sometimes we call them _dayıkızı,dayıoğlu_(mom's brother's daughter/son) _teyzekızı,teyzeoğlu_(mom's sister's daughter/son),_amcakızı,amcaoğlu_(dad's brother's daughter/son),_halakızı,halaoğlu_(dad's sister's daughter/son) but not that often,at least for me.


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## Armas

Finnish

serkku or orpana = first cousin
pikkuserkku or pikkuorpana = second cousin, literally little cousin

Serkku is the standard word, orpana is colloquial or dialectal.


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## ger4

Lugubert said:


> German (from dictionary):
> Vetter (m), Base (f)
> Andergeschwisterkind, but normally (entfernter) Verwandter '(distant) relative'


I'd like to add an alternative version which is more similar to French and Italian:
1st cousin = _Cousin (m) / Cousine (f) ersten Grades_ (lit. 'of first degree')
2nd cousin = _Cousin (m) / Cousine (f) zweiten Grades_ (lit. 'of second degree')





Kraus said:


> In *Italian* we say "cugino di primo/secondo grado".
> 
> The term "cugino di secondo grado" also translates "cousin once removed" (the father's cousin or the son's cousin).


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## mataripis

Tagalog: first cousin- pinsang buo/ second cousin- pinsang pakalawa.


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## poliseba

Spanish for first cousin we say either primo hermano (brother cousin) or prima hermana (sister cousin).

For second, third, and what not we use ordinal numbers .
second cousin - primo/a segundo/a
third cousin - primo/a tercero/a
etc.

The generic term for cousin of any kind is primo or prima.


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## ilocas2

Czech:

first cousin - *bratranec* (male), *sestřenice* (female)
second cousin - *bratranec z druhého kolena* (male cousin from second knee), *sestřenice z druhého kolena* (female cousin from second knee)
and so on


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## kaverison

In India, in general, we don't have the cocept of cousin like in the west. Your cousin is your bother or sister, particularly if from father's brothers or mom's sisters. This is why, when the British introduced the idea of cousin, we took it and made it our own by introducing new terms, cousin-bother and cousin-sister**.

Idea of second cousin does not exist. Your father's cousin-brother is your uncle and sister is aunty. (We call older neighbors that!!). Your mother's cousin-brother is your uncle and cousin-sister  is aunty. Their kids.., well you get the picture.

In Tamil,
Mom's cousin = same as mom's sibling = maamaa or ammaan (male) or chithi (female, younger), periammaa (mom's elder sister/cousin)

Father's cousin = father's sibling = aththai (female), chithappa (male younger brother/cousin), periappaa (literally, big father = father's elder brother/cousin)

Your mother's brother/cousin-brother's son is your ammaanchi (old Ta. ammaan chey = maamaa' kid),
Daughter = ammangaa (old Ta. Amman nangai = maamaa's daughter)

Your father's sister's/cousin-sister's son is your aththaan, daughter athangaa

Your father's brother/cousin-brother's or mother's sister/cousin sister's sons and daughters are simply your brothers and sisters.

In current trends, these words are fast disappearing, replaced with cousin-brother/sister.

**As an aside, Indian English is filled with such improvisations to meet local requirement for a special name for every relationship. 2 guys married into a family, become co-brothers (my wife's sister's husband is my co-brother)! And 2 women married into a family are co-sisters!


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## Jimbob_Disco

In English:

First/second cousin

Or

Cousin once/twice removed (this is rarer, though)


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## apmoy70

Cassiope said:


> Greek:
> 
> πρώτος ξάδερφος / δεύτερος ξάδερφος


Just wanted to expand on it a bit:

First Cousin:
*«Πρώτος (ε)ξάδελφος»* [ˈprotos (e)ˈk͡saðelfos] (masc.).
*«Πρώτη (ε)ξαδέλφη»* [ˈproti (e)k͡saˈðelfi] (fem.).
Compounded, *«πρωτοξάδελφος»* [protoˈk͡saðelfos] (masc.), *«πρωτοξαδέλφη»* [protok͡saˈðelfi] (fem.).

Second Cousin:
*«Δεύτερος (ε)ξάδελφος»* [ˈðefteɾos eˈk͡saðelfos] (masc.).
*«Δεύτερη (ε)ξαδέλφη»* [ˈðefteɾi (e)k͡saˈðelfi] (fem.).
Compounded forms are rare.


Cassiope said:


> or rarely
> 
> ξάδερφος πρώτου / δεύτερου βαθμού (first or second degree).


*«(Ε)ξάδελφος πρώτου βαθμού»* [(e)ˈk͡saðelfos ˈprotu vaθˈmu] --> _Cousin (male) of first degree_.
*«(Ε)ξαδέλφη δευτέρου βαθμού»* [(e)k͡saˈðelfi ðefˈteɾu vaθˈmu] --> _Cousin (female) of second degree_.

Some etymology:
-MoGr *«(ε)ξάδελφος/(ε)ξαδέλφη»* [(e)ˈk͡saðelfos] (masc.), [(e)k͡saˈðelfi] (fem.), with dissimilation *«(ε)ξάδερφος»/(ε)ξαδέρφη»* [(e)ˈk͡saðerfos] (masc.), [(e)k͡saˈðerfi] (fem.) --> _cousin_ < Byz.Gr *«ἐξάδελφος» ek͡sádelphos* (masc.) --> _nephew_.
The meaning changed in Late Byzantine era, initially the word described the brother's son (nephew) => prefix & preposition *«ἐξ» ĕk͡s* + *«ἀδελφός» ădĕlpʰós* (masc.) --> _brother_ < copulative *«ἀ-» ă-* (PIE *sm̥- zero-grade to *sem- cf Skt. सनामन् (sanāman), _similar_ (prefix स- san-), Lat. simplex, _single, plain_ (prefix sem-)) + 3rd declension fem. noun *«δελφύς» dĕlpʰús* (nom. sing.), *«δελφύος» dĕlpʰúŏs* (gen. sing.) --> _womb_ (PIE *gʷelbʰu- _womb_ cf Skt. गर्भ (garbha), _womb_, Av. garəβa- (idem), possibly Proto-Germanic *kalbaz, _calf_).

Τhe ancient Greeks called the cousin, *«ἀνεψιός» ănĕp͡siós* (masc.), secondary form *«ἀνεψιά» ănĕp͡siā́* (fem.), which in MoGr means...nephew/niece.
The two words (ἐξάδελφος/ἀνεψιός) exchanged meaning in Late Byzantine era.
From PIE *nepot- _descendant_ cf Skt. नपात् (napāt), _grandson_, Av. naptiia- _descendant_, Lat. nepōs, _descendant_. The *«ἀ-» ă-* in the Greek word is copulative, expressing the reciprocity of the relation.


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## rusita preciosa

In Russian cousin and brother/sister are the same word, with a qualifier:

brother: брат
cousin (m): двоюродный брат (~ second-native brother)
second cousin (m): троюродный брат (~third-native brother)
third cousin (m): четвероюродный брат (~fourth-native brother)

sister: сестра 
cousin (f): двоюродная сестра (~ second-native sister) 
second cousin (f): троюродная сестра (~ third-native sister) 
third cousin (f): четвероюродная сестра(~ fourth-native sister)


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