second cousin
21
2.8
- noun
- /ˈsɛkənd ˈkʌzən/
:
primo segundo
- I never knew that my second cousin lived just a few blocks away from me.
And we have, I have second cousins and a lot of autoimmune problems on my dad's side.
- And we have, I have second cousins and a lot of autoimmune problems on my dad's side.
- They form extended kinship units, that is to say, they know who their second cousins are and care about them.
- If you if you share, if you have a match with a second cousin, that means that you must share one set of great grandparents in common.
- You know, first cousin is illegal, second cousin not illegal.
- If your grandmother's second cousin's dog knows Brad Pitt, please get friendly with that dog.
Examples
-
Within two weeks, I found myself at the wedding of my second cousin, the grandson of Bapci's brother.
Fiction book (2001) -
Would you like to meet them?" "No," said her second cousin once removed, matter-of-factly.
Fiction book (1993) -
So, that must make us, like, second cousins, right?
-
I think I have three second cousins...
-
I learned terrible things from Alfred, a second cousin once removed.
Fiction book (1991) -
Applicants cannot be more closely related than second cousins, whole or half blood.
Blog text (10) -
Norma is my mother's second cousin and a chambermaid at the Pony.
Fiction book (2002) -
He's my second cousin.
-
This is Claire's second cousin, Peyton, and my niece, Peyton.
-
At the family reunion, I enjoyed catching up with my second cousin, who I hadn't seen in years.
How Distant
Surface Forms
Morphology
The ordinal 'second' transparently marks a degree of kinship modifying 'cousin', so a B1 learner who knows both words will understand it denotes a more distant cousin than a 'first cousin'. However, the exact genealogical relation (sharing great-grandparents / child of a parent's first cousin) is a conventional kinship detail not predictable from the constituents alone, so full understanding requires specific cultural/terminological knowledge.
Etymology
Second cousin comes from counting family levels: a first cousin shares grandparents, and a second cousin is one step further and 'shares great-grandparents'. So a second cousin is the child of your parent's first cousin, which is why the term means a family member who is related but a bit more distant.