second cousin

American  

noun

second cousins plural

1. a child of a first cousin of one's parent.

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second cousin British  

noun

1. the child of a first cousin of either of one's parents

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second cousin Idioms  

1. Something that is related or similar but not quite the same, as in This beef stew is second cousin to boeuf bourguignon. This expression transfers the literal sense of second cousin —that is, the child of the first cousin of one's mother or father—a usage dating from the mid-1600s.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• second cousins
  plural

Etymology

Origin of second cousin

First recorded in 1650–60

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

second cousin

In 1937 Jessica eloped to Europe with her second cousin Esmond Romilly—their ill-starred plan was to head to Spain to report on the civil war there.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026

No one — not his children or your nieces or the next-door neighbor’s second cousin twice removed — has a right to that money.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 16, 2026

The genetic analysis identified her as my father’s first cousin once removed and my own second cousin, narrowing the search to my grandfather’s siblings and their children.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025

In her essay, Schlossberg describes her alarm at watching her second cousin be approved to the post as she was battling her illness.

From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2025

“I think Mum’s got a second cousin who’s an accountant, but we never talk about him.”

From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling