# cousins

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈkʌzn̩s/ · frequency rank #7,669

## Definitions
1. The American intelligence services (from a British perspective) or the British intelligence services (from an American perspective).

## Etymology
From cousin + -s (suffix forming pluralia tantum, regular plurals of nouns, and the third-person singular indicative present tense forms of verbs).
The plural noun noun 1 sense 1 (“American or British intelligence services”) was popularized in the works of the English author John le Carré (David John Moore Cornwell; 1930–2020).

## Easily confused with
- **coins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coins-vs-cousins)
- **cousin** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cousin-vs-cousins)
- **causing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/causing-vs-cousins)
- **Collins** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/collins-vs-cousins)
- **coursing** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/coursing-vs-cousins)

## Common misspellings (10)
`ccousins`, `cosuins`, `couisns`, `cousinns`, `cousinss`, `cousisn`, `cousnis`, `coussins`, `cuosins`, `ocusins`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cousins