cozen

English

Etymology 1

From coz(y) +‎ -en.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkəʊzən/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈkoʊzən/
• Rhymes: -əʊzən

Verb

cozen (third-person singular simple present cozens, present participle cozening, simple past and past participle cozened)

1. (intransitive) To become cozy; (by extension) to become acquainted, comfortable, or familiar with.
   • 2008, Hannah Howell, Silver Flame, page 354:

     "As I see it, Master Fraser, a 'bairn' ought to be verra concerned when a mon thrice her age cozens up to her."

   • 2013, Rick Cox, Orphan Moon, page 180:

     A wasp nest cozened up in the corner of the far ceiling.

   • 2013, Kim Stanley Robinson, The Wild Shore, page 26:

     I heard someone at the swap meet say they were going to cozen up to someone, and someone else told me my sales pitch was a filibuster.

Usage notes

• Usually used with up.

Etymology 2

Perhaps from obsolete Italian cozzonare (“to cheat”), from cozzone (“middleman, broker”), from Latin cōciō (“dealer”).

Alternative forms

• coosen, coosin, cosen (all obsolete)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkʌzən/
• Rhymes: -ʌzən
• Homophone: cousin

Verb

cozen (third-person singular simple present cozens, present participle cozening, simple past and past participle cozened)

1. (archaic) To cheat; to defraud; to deceive, usually by small arts, or in a pitiful way. [from late 16th c.]

   Synonyms: beguile; see also Thesaurus:deceive

   • c. 1590 (date written), G[eorge] P[eele], The Old Wiues Tale. […], London: […] Iohn Danter, for Raph Hancocke, and Iohn Hardie, […], published 1595, →OCLC:

     […] good Vulcan, for Cupids sake that hath cousned us all: befriend us as thou maiest […]

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 271:

     What diuell was't / That thus hath couſend you at hoodman-blinde?

   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 8, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     [I]t was resolved that he was to do his duty; that is, to redeem his vow; that is, to pay a debt cozened from him by a sharper […]

   • a. 1668 (date written), Jeremy Taylor, “Of Christian Simplicity”, in Reginald Heber, editor, The Whole Works of the Right Rev. Jeremy Taylor, D.D. […], volume VI, London: Ogle, Duncan, and Co. […]; and Richard Priestley, […], published 1822, →OCLC, page 163:

     It is certain that children may be cozened into goodness, and sick men to health, and passengers in a storm into safety; and the reason of these is, — because not only the end is fair, and charitable, and just, but the means are such which do no injury to the persons which are to receive benefit; […] .

   • 1866, “Spoils, By a Receiver”, in Charles Chauncey Burr, editor, The Old Guard: A Monthly Journal Devoted to the Principles of 1776 and 1787, volume 4, page 497:

     The man, too, who has been matrimonially cozened, "would all the world might be cozened," for he has been cozened, and beaten too; but with him the cudgel is "hallowed;" he would "hang it o'er the altar;" perhaps for the reason given by the "Merry Wives of Windsor," because "it hath done meritorious service;" and no sooner is he, by a seemingly merciful disposition of Providence, released from the cudgeler, but he is in haste to be cozened and beaten again.

   • 1914, Rafael Sabatini, The Gates of Doom, published 2001, page 217:

     But that you should have been cozened with me, that my cozening should in part have been a natural sequel to your own, rather than an independent error of mine, is a helpful reflection to me in this dark hour.

Usage notes

Modern usage is generally to affect a dated style.

Related terms

• cozener
• cozenage

Translations

archaic: to cheat, defraud

• Bulgarian: мамя (bg) (mamja)
• Dutch: bedriegen (nl)
• Russian: надува́ть (ru) n (naduvátʹ), моро́чить (ru) n (moróčitʹ), обма́нывать (ru) n (obmányvatʹ)

References

• Webster's New School and Office Dictionary, copyright 1962
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “cozen”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.