CousinvsCousineWhat's the difference?

Which to use

“Cousin” and “Cousine” are a confusable German pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#9,346
“Cousin” frequency rank
#11,204
“Cousine” frequency rank
20550
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Cousin Cousine
Definition ein Sohn von Onkel oder Tante Tochter von Onkel oder Tante

Where the eye mixes Cousin and Cousine

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. Cousin runs 6 letters (CVVCVC) against Cousine's 7 (CVVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

6 ch
Cousin
7 ch
Cousine

Why the eye confuses Cousin with Cousine

A purely visual mix-up. Cousin ([kuˈzɛ̃ː]) and Cousine ([kuˈziːnə]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “Cousin” sits inside “Cousine”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 20550, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Cousin is recorded at frequency rank #9,346, classified as anoun, pronounced [kuˈzɛ̃ː]. Cousine is at rank #11,204, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kuˈziːnə].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 20550, this pair ranks #1,896,410 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of Cousin vs Cousine

Shared letters: cinosu. Private to "Cousin": -. Private to "Cousine": e.

"Cousin" · 6 letters · shape CVVCVC  ·  "Cousine" · 7 letters · shape CVVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Cousin ← ccousin · cosuin · couisn · cousinn · cousni · coussin · cuosin · ocusin
  • Cousine ← ccousine · cosuine · couisne · cousien · cousinne · cousnie · coussine · cuosine

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Cousin" and "Cousine" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([kuˈzɛ̃ː] versus [kuˈziːnə]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
In ordinary German text, does "Cousin" or "Cousine" show up more?
"Cousin" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #9,346 in our German list, against #11,204 for "Cousine". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "Cousin" and "Cousine" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Cousin" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Cousine" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,896,410 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Cousin" and "Cousine" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Cousine vs Cousinen". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #1,896,410 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list