cos

See also: Appendix:Variations of "cos"

Languages (21)

Translingual • English

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Aromanian • Catalan • Chinese • Czech • Friulian • Galician • Irish • Kashubian • Latin • Middle English • Old Cornish • Old English • Old French • Old Irish • Polish • Portuguese • Romanian • Spanish • Turkish

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Page categories

Translingual

Etymology 1

Clipping of English cosine.

Symbol

cos

1. (trigonometry) cosine

Derived terms

• arccos

Etymology 2

Abbreviation of English Corsican, from Latin Corsica.

Symbol

cos

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Corsican.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Corsican terms

English

Etymology 1

Clipping of cos lettuce, variously derived from the Greek island of Kos and from Arabic خس (ḵass, “lettuce”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /kɑs/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kɒs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɒs

Noun

cos (plural coses)

1. (chiefly UK) Synonym of romaine lettuce, a long-leaved variety of lettuce.

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /kɒz/; (unstressed) IPA^(key): /kəz/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /kʌz/; (unstressed) IPA^(key): /kəz/

Conjunction

cos

1. (UK, Ireland, South Africa, African-American Vernacular) Informal spelling of 'cause (“because”).
   • 2021, Isabel Waidner, Sterling Karat Gold, Peninsula Press, page 161:

     Taking the shortcut through the alleyway by the Jobcentre Plus, just cos I can, we arrive at my flat within minutes.

Etymology 3

Clipping of cousin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kʌz/

Noun

cos (plural cosses)

1. (informal, African-American Vernacular) Alternative form of coz, cousin.

Etymology 4

From co +‎ -s.

Noun

cos

1. plural of co

Determiner

cos

1. (nonstandard) Belonging to co. Gender-neutral possessive determiner, grammatically equivalent to the gendered his and her and the singular their.
   • 1973, Michael Glenn, Richard Kunnes, Repression or Revolution?: Therapy in the United States Today, Harper Colophon Books, →ISBN, page 53:

     Psychiatrists are trained to try to impose the responsibility for a patient’s problem on the patient coself, rather than on cos environment.

   • 1975, Valida Davila, “A Child’s Sexual Bill of Rights”, in Bernhardt J. Hurwood, editor, The Whole Sex Catalogue, New York, N.Y.: Pinnacle Books, published 1976, →ISBN, page 287:

     WHEREAS a child’s sexuality is just as much a part of cos whole person from birth as the blood that flows in cos veins, making cos sexual rights inherent and inalienable […]

   • 1986, Ingrid Komar, Living the Dream: Twin Oaks Community 1979-1982, Louisa, Va.: Twin Oaks Community, →OCLC, page 355:

     Co absents coself from the Community for more than three weeks beyond the point of having made satisfactory arrangements with the Community with regard to cos absence.

Alternative forms

• co's

Etymology 5

Noun

cos (plural coses or cos)

1. Alternative form of coss, a traditional Nepali unit of distance.
   • 1857, Brian Houghton Hodgson, Selections from the Records of the Government of Bengal, No. XXVII: Papers Relative to the Colonization, Commerce, Physical Geography, &c., &c., of the Himalaya Mountains and Nepal, p. 22:

     The stages and distances are as follows:—Hitounda to Bhainsa Dobháng, 3½ cos; to Bhimphédy, 4 cos; to Tambakhâni, 3 cos; to Chitlong, 3 cos; to Thankot, 3 cos; to Káthmándú, 3 cos—Total, 19½ cos.

See also

• cosmid

Anagrams

• CSO, OCS, OCs, OSC, SCO, SOC, SoC, Soc, Soc., soc, soc.

Aromanian

Alternative forms

• cosu

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *cōsō, from Latin consuō. Compare Romanian coase, cos.

Verb

cos (third-person singular coasi or coase, participle cusutã)

1. to sew

Related terms

• coasiri/coasire
• cusut

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Old Catalan cors, from Latin corpus. Doublet of the borrowing corpus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ˈkɔs]

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

Noun

cos m (plural cossos)

1. body (physical structure of a human or animal)
2. body, corpse

   Synonym: cadàver

Derived terms

• anticòs
• cos celeste
• cos pituïtari
• cossar
• cossatge

References

• “cos” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Further reading

• “cos”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “cos”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “cos” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

Chinese

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kàosi, kòusi

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄠˋ ˙ㄙ, ㄎㄡˋ ˙ㄙ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kàosi
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄠˋ ˙ㄙ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kàosi̊h
    • Wade–Giles: kʻao⁴-ssŭ⁵
    • Yale: kàu-sz
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kaw.sy
    • Palladius: каосы (kaosy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰɑʊ̯⁵¹ sz̩¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kòusi
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄡˋ ˙ㄙ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kòusi̊h
    • Wade–Giles: kʻou⁴-ssŭ⁵
    • Yale: kòu-sz
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kow.sy
    • Palladius: коусы (kousy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰoʊ̯⁵¹ sz̩¹/

Audio:

(file)

Noun

cos

1. (ACG, informal) cosplay

   玩cos的人  ―  wán cos de rén  ―  someone who cosplays; cosplayer

2. (ACG, informal) cosplay costume

Verb

cos

1. (ACG, informal) to cosplay
2. (slang, by extension) LARP; To pretend to be something, or act as something

   cos共產主義／cos共产主义  ―  cos gòngchǎnzhǔyì  ―  LARP as a communist

Derived terms

• coser

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sos]

Pronoun

cos

1. alternative form of cosi

Declension

Declension of cos (sg-only inanimate pronoun)

	singular
nominative	cos
genitive	čehos
dative	čemus
accusative	cos
vocative	—
locative	čems
instrumental	číms

Further reading

• “cos”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “cos”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
• “cos”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech), 2008–2026

Friulian

Etymology

From Slovene kòš, from Proto-Slavic *košь.

Noun

cos m (plural cos)

1. basket

   Synonyms: gei, geùt, ceste

Galician

Etymology

From contraction of preposition con (“with”) + masculine plural definite article os (“the”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkoːs̺/
• Rhymes: -ʊs, -os
• Hyphenation: cos

Contraction

cos m pl (masculine co, feminine coa, feminine plural coas)

1. with the

References

• “con”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2026

Irish

Alternative forms

• cois (Galway)

Etymology

From Old Irish cos, from Proto-Celtic *koxsā (cf. Welsh coes), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *koḱs-, whence also Latin coxa (“hip”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kosˠ/, /kɔsˠ/, /kɞsˠ/

Noun

cos f (genitive singular coise, nominative plural cosa)

1. foot
2. leg

Declension

Declension of cos (second declension)

bare forms singular plural nominative cos cosa vocative a chos a chosa genitive coise cos dative cois cosa forms with the definite article singular plural nominative an chos na cosa genitive na coise na gcos dative leis an gcois don chois leis na cosa

• Dual: dhá chois

Derived terms

• a chois (“beside”)
• alt na coise
• ar cois (“afoot”)
• as cosa i dtaca (“unexpectedly; full on”)
• bord scríbhneoireachta coise (“pedestal writing-table”)
• caol na coise (“ankle”)
• cois
• coisbheart (“footwear”)
• coiscéim (“footstep”)
• coisdeargán (“redshank”)
• coisí (“pedestrian”)
• coisigh (“travel on foot”)
• coislí (“footpath”)
• coistéad (“footrope”)
• cor coise (“act of tripping someone”)
• cos bhacóide (“one leg (of the two)”)
• cos deiridh (“hind leg”)
• cos dubh (“maidenhair”)
• cos ghé (“goosefoot”)
• cos thinn (“rainy day”)
• cos tosaigh (“front leg”)
• cos-ardach (“arched; high-stepping”)
• cos-scamallach (“web-footed”)
• cos-slua (“infantry”)
• cosa fuara (“stilts”)
• cosa in airde
• cosacán (“fetter”)
• cosán (“path”)
• cosbhalla (“footwall”)
• cosbhuí (“yellow-footed”)
• cosdaingean (“sure-footed”)
• cosdeargán
• coséadrom (“light-footed”)
• cosfhada (“long-legged”)
• coslia (“podiatrist”)
• cosligthe (“unfettered”)
• cosluath (“light-footed”)
• cosmhuintir (“hangers-on, dependants”)
• costinn (“footsore”)
• costirim (“dry-footed”)
• crágchos (“cheliped”)
• de chois
• deil choise (“treadle”)
• droichead coise (“footbridge”)
• fadchosach (“long-legged”)
• gearrchosach (“short-legged; short-handled”)
• i gcois (“beside”)
• in aghaidh do chos
• in éadan do chos (“reluctantly”)
• ionga coise (“toenail”)
• le cois (“in addition to”)
• maide coise (“stretcher”)
• méar coise (“toe”)
• muileann coise (“treadmill”)
• saighdiúir coise (“foot soldier”)

Mutation

Mutated forms of cos

radical	lenition	eclipsis
cos	chos	gcos

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Modern Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Dinneen, Patrick S. (1904), “cos”, in Foclóir Gaeḋilge agus Béarla, 1st edition, Dublin: Irish Texts Society, page 185
• Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977), “cos”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN

Kashubian

Alternative forms

• cosz (regional)

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *kʷ-

Proto-Indo-European *kʷís

Proto-Indo-European *kʷídder.

Proto-Slavic *česo

Kashubian co

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe

Proto-Indo-European *ís

Proto-Indo-European *ḱís

Proto-Balto-Slavic *śís

Proto-Slavic *sьder.

Kashubian -s

Kashubian cos

From co + -s. Compare Polish coś and Slovincian cesz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡sɔs/
• Rhymes: -ɔs
• Syllabification: cos

Pronoun

cos

1. indeterminate pronoun; something

Further reading

• Stefan Ramułt (1893), “cos”, in Słownik języka pomorskiego czyli kaszubskiego (in Kashubian), page 18
• Eùgeniusz Gòłąbk (2011), “coś”, in Słownik Polsko-Kaszubski / Słowôrz Pòlskò-Kaszëbsczi‎^[1]
• “cos/cosz”, in Internetowi Słowôrz Kaszëbsczégò Jãzëka [Internet Dictionary of the Kashubian Language], Fundacja Kaszuby, 2022

Latin

Etymology 1

From Proto-Italic *kōtis, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱeh₃- (“to sharpen”). Cognate with Latin catus (“clever, cunning”), cautēs (“pointed rock”), cuneus (“wedge”) and Ancient Greek κῶνος (kônos, “cone”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkoːs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkɔs]

Noun

cōs f (genitive cōtis); third declension

1. whetstone

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	cōs	cōtēs
genitive	cōtis	cōtum
dative	cōtī	cōtibus
accusative	cōtem	cōtēs
ablative	cōte	cōtibus
vocative	cōs	cōtēs

Derived terms

• cōtōria

Descendants

• Catalan: cot
• French: queux
• Italian: cote, cotano
• Megleno-Romanian: cuti
• Romanian: cute
• Sicilian: cuti
• ⇒ Spanish: codón

Etymology 2

Alternative forms

• COS

Noun

cos

1. abbreviation of consul

References

• “cos”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “cos”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "cos", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “cos”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “cos”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 139

Middle English

Alternative forms

• cus, kis, kys, kysse, kesse

Etymology

From Old English coss, from Proto-West Germanic *koss, from Proto-Germanic *kussaz. Forms with /i/, /u/ and /ɛ/ are influenced by Old English cyssan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔs/, /kus/, /kis/, /kɛs/

Noun

cos (plural cosses or cossen)

1. a kiss (action of kissing)

   Synonym: kissynge

Descendants

• English: kiss
• Scots: kis
• Yola: kesse

References

• “cos, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old Cornish

Etymology

Proto-Brythonic *kọs, from Latin cāseus.

Noun

cos

1. cheese
   • c. 1200, Latin-Old Cornish Glossary in British Library MS Cotton Vespasian A XIV, folio 10 recto:

     Caseus⹎ cos vel caus.

     Cheese. — cheese or cheese.

Descendants

• Middle Cornish: kez, keas
  • Cornish: keus

Old English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kos/

Noun

cos m

1. alternative form of coss

Old French

Noun

cos m

1. inflection of cop:
   1. oblique plural
   2. nominative singular

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *koxsā (cf. Welsh coes), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *koḱs-. Cognate with Latin coxa (“hip”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkos/

Noun

cos f (genitive coise, nominative plural cossa)

1. foot
2. leg

Inflection

Feminine ā-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	cosL	coisL	cosaH, cossaH
vocative	cosL	coisL	cosaH, cossaH
accusative	coisN	coisL	cosaH, cossaH
genitive	coiseH	cosL	cosN
dative	coisL	cosaib	cosaib

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Descendants

• Irish: cos
• Manx: cass
• Scottish Gaelic: cas

Mutation

Mutation of cos

radical	lenition	nasalization
cos	chos	cos pronounced with /ɡ-/

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “cos”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Polish

Pronunciation

• (Lesser Poland):
  • (Goral):
    • (Żywiec) IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sɔs]

• Audio:

  (file)

Pronoun

cos

1. (Żywiec) alternative form of coś

Further reading

• Leon Rzeszowski (1891), “cos”, in “Spis wyrazów ludowych z okolic Żywca”, in Sprawozdania Komisyi Językowej Akademii Umiejętności‎^[2], volume 4, Krakow: Drukarnia Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, page 354

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• c'os (pre-standardization spelling, now proscribed)

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kus/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /kus/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /kuʃ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /kos/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /kuʃ/

• Hyphenation: cos

Contraction

cos m pl

1. (colloquial or poetic) contraction of com +‎ os, literally “with the (masculine plural)”: plural of co

Romanian

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -os

Verb

cos

1. inflection of coase:
   1. first-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. third-person plural present indicative

Spanish

Noun

cos m pl

1. plural of co

Turkish

Etymology 1

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒos/

Noun

cos (definite accusative cosu, plural coslar)

1. (onomatopoeia) sizzle (the sound of water hitting a hot surface)

Etymology 2

Clipping of cosplay, from English cosplay.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkos/

Noun

cos (definite accusative cosu, plural coslar)

1. abbreviation of cosplay

   O kadar Kalista cos yapmışsındır ama gelen soru "mavi mi"dir.

   When you went through the effort of doing a Kalista cosplay but all they do is ask "is it blue?".