Cousin, Second Cousin, Third Cousin, Distant Cousin....

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary defines cousin as ‘a child of your aunt or uncle’. The word cousin is a neutral term which applies to both males and females. Many people especially in South East Asia incorrectly use this word as cousin brother, cousin sister etc. Remember the word cousin is used to refer to:

1. Your uncle’s son/daughter (uncle can be your father’s brother or mother’s brother)
2. Your aunt’s son/daughter  (aunt can be your father’s sister or mother’s sister)

The listener can understand whether the ‘cousin in context’ is male of female from the pronoun which is used to describe them for example, in sentences like ‘He’s my cousin’, ‘My cousin is coming today with her children' etc. , the pronoun ‘he’ and the adjective ‘her’ clearly resolve the ‘gender confusion’. In some cases, it’s also possible to say ‘male cousin’ or ‘female cousin’ for specification or emphasis.

First cousin is another word which means exactly the same as cousin. Well, a (first) cousin is the child of your uncle or aunty. Who is your second cousin? It’s the grandchild of your grand uncle/aunty*.

Then comes the third cousin: the great grandchild of your great grand uncle**.

Of course the description of relationship tree in words is very confusing. The following graphics will make it a lot easier for you to understand the kinds of cousins:

*brother/sister of your grandfather/grandmother.

**brother/sister of your great grandfather/ great grandmother.