cousin-german

9.9

A child of your aunt or uncle

noun
/ˈkʌzən ˈɡɜrmən/

Archaic

: primo hermano

He inherited the estate jointly with his cousin-german after their uncle's passing.

Examples

Her cousin-german visited from France for the family reunion.
In old English literature, the term cousin-german often appears for first cousins.
My cousin-german is coming to visit this weekend.
Did you invite your cousin-german to the party?
Her cousin-german visited from France for the family reunion.
My cousin-german is coming to visit this weekend.
Did you invite your cousin-german to the party?

Synonyms

cousin

vscousin-german

∞ 1.0

A child of your aunt or uncle

is the specific term for the same family relation

first cousin

vscousin-german

17 1.0

A child of your aunt or uncle who shares a grandparent with you

has identical meaning and refers to the same family relation

full cousin

vscousin-german

2.8

A child of your aunt or uncle who shares both grandparents with you

shares only one grandparent rather than both

Surface Forms

cousin-german singular

cousin-germans plural

Morphology

cousin-german = cousin + german (opaque) = cousin + german

Although built from 'cousin' + 'german', the adjective 'german' (meaning closely related) is archaic and not known to typical learners, so the compound meaning 'first cousin' is not transparently inferable.

Etymology

Cousin-german comes from an old word german that meant 'closely related' or 'of the same parents', not the country name. So cousin-german originally named a cousin who was a 'first' cousin, which is why today it means a first cousin.