Cousin: Difference between revisions
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The word '''cousin''' refers to a relationship between people who share a certain degree of common ancestry. The word has also been used to refer to common membership in a specific class of people, but that usage is much less common. | The word '''cousin''' refers to a relationship between people who share a certain degree of common ancestry. The word has also been used to refer to common membership in a specific class of people, but that usage is much less common. | ||
Two people | Two people are cousins if the nearest common ancestor is a grandparent or more distant ancestor for both people. Where the nearest common ancestor is the parent of one person, and the grandparent or more distant ancestor of the other, the first person is the aunt or uncle of the second, while the second is the niece or nephew of the first. | ||
In informal usage, within an [[extended family]], cousins are those non-sibling relatives who are of approximately similar age, while aunts and uncles are the female and male non-ancestral relatives who are of approximately the age of the parents of the person. | In informal usage, within an [[extended family]], cousins are those non-sibling relatives who are of approximately similar age, while aunts and uncles are the female and male non-ancestral relatives who are of approximately the age of the parents of the person. | ||
==Degrees of cousinship== | |||
The relationship most commonly referred to as "cousin" is that of '''first cousin''', where the two people share [[grandparent]]s. '''Second cousins''' are people who share great-grandparents, but no closer relations. As the degree of closest common ancestry increases, the degree of cousinship increases as well. | The relationship most commonly referred to as "cousin" is that of '''first cousin''', where the two people share [[grandparent]]s. '''Second cousins''' are people who share great-grandparents, but no closer relations. As the degree of closest common ancestry increases, the degree of cousinship increases as well. | ||
In Anglo-american usage, when the relationship to the nearest common ancestor is not symmetric, the relationship is described as being "removed". For example, if the nearest common ancestor is the grandparent of one person and the great-grandparent of another, the two are '''first cousins once removed'''. The degree of removal is the number of generations difference between the two, while the degree of cousinship is the same as the degree of cousinship at the generation of the person in the earlier generation. Relationships of "Nth cousin P times removed" are symmetric, unlike relationships between aunts and uncles to nephews and nieces. | |||
Revision as of 13:00, 22 June 2008
The word cousin refers to a relationship between people who share a certain degree of common ancestry. The word has also been used to refer to common membership in a specific class of people, but that usage is much less common.
Two people are cousins if the nearest common ancestor is a grandparent or more distant ancestor for both people. Where the nearest common ancestor is the parent of one person, and the grandparent or more distant ancestor of the other, the first person is the aunt or uncle of the second, while the second is the niece or nephew of the first.
In informal usage, within an extended family, cousins are those non-sibling relatives who are of approximately similar age, while aunts and uncles are the female and male non-ancestral relatives who are of approximately the age of the parents of the person.
Degrees of cousinship
The relationship most commonly referred to as "cousin" is that of first cousin, where the two people share grandparents. Second cousins are people who share great-grandparents, but no closer relations. As the degree of closest common ancestry increases, the degree of cousinship increases as well.
In Anglo-american usage, when the relationship to the nearest common ancestor is not symmetric, the relationship is described as being "removed". For example, if the nearest common ancestor is the grandparent of one person and the great-grandparent of another, the two are first cousins once removed. The degree of removal is the number of generations difference between the two, while the degree of cousinship is the same as the degree of cousinship at the generation of the person in the earlier generation. Relationships of "Nth cousin P times removed" are symmetric, unlike relationships between aunts and uncles to nephews and nieces.