Daily Ancestorcous.
Cous. is short for cousin in genealogies, letters and probate files; in older use a cousin could be almost any relative.
Cous. is an abbreviation of cousin, also written cou. or cos. It appears in family Bibles, letters and wills.
Remember that before the 1800s cousin was used loosely for nephews, nieces and other kin, so my cous. in a will does not prove a first-cousin link.
As seen in a recordBequest in an 1780s will
to my cous. Saml. Reed, my gun
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Daily Ancestor. "cous.." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/abbreviations/cous. Last checked 2026-10-01.