cozen

views updated Jun 11 2018

cozen cheat, defraud. XVI. prob. orig. vagrants' cant, and perh. to be assoc. with COUSIN, through OF. cousin dupe, or cousiner ‘to clayme kindred for aduantage, or particular ends’ (Cotgr.); but the frequent sp. with -on has suggested deriv. from It. cozzonare ‘to play the horse-breaker, to play the craftie knaue’ (Florio).
Hence cozenage, cozener XVI.

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