cousin (the ordinary mod. sense is freq.)
1.
collateral
relative more distant than brother or sister,
formerly very freq. applied to nephew or niece, as
in Ado I. ii. 2, AYL. I. ii. 166; also
=uncle Tw.N. I. v. 130, V. i.
316;=brother-in-law 1H4 III. i. 52.
2.
in legal language,
often formerly applied to the next of kin, including
direct ancestors and descendants; so=grandchild in
John III. iii. 17, R3 II. ii. 8, II. iv. 9,
Oth. I. i. 113.
3.
used by a sovereign
in formally addressing or mentioning another
sovereign or a nobleman Meas. V. i.
165, R3 III. iv. 35.
