cosy

English

Alternative forms

• cozy (US)
• cosie (Scotland)
• cosey, cozey, cozie (archaic)

Etymology

From Scots cosie, from Old Scots colsie, but ultimate derivation is unknown. Possibly of North Germanic origin, such as Norwegian kose seg (“to have a cozy time”), from Old Norse kose sig, from koselig, koslig, perhaps ultimately from Old High German kōsa; see modern German kosen (“to cuddle”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈkəʊzi/
• (US) enPR: kō'-zē, IPA^(key): /ˈkoʊzi/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊzi
• Hyphenation: cos‧y

Adjective

cosy (comparative cosier, superlative cosiest) (British spelling)

1. (of a place or object) Affording comfort and warmth; snug; social and comfortable.

   Synonyms: snug, hygge, homely

   Hypernyms: comfortable, comfy

   Hyponym: gemütlich

   • 1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “How the Pickwickians Made and Cultivated the Acquaintance of a Couple of Nice Young Men Belonging to One of the Liberal Professions; […]”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, page 315:

     Mr. Pickwick expressed the pleasure it would afford him to meet the medical fellows; and Mr. Bob Sawyer had informed him that he meant to be very cosey, and that his friend Ben was to be one of the party, they shook hands and separated

   • 1869, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “Our Foreign Correspondent”, in Little Women: […], 2nd part, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC, page 120:

     One of us must marry well; Meg didn't, Jo won't, Beth can't, yet,—so I shall, and make everything cosy all round.

2. (of a person) Warm and comfortable.

   Synonyms: snug, snug as a bug in a rug

   I feel very cosy here in my bed.

Derived terms

• cosified
• cosily
• cosiness
• cosy catastrophe
• cosy up, cozy up
• uncosy

Translations

affording comfort and warmth

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Belarusian: уту́льны m (utúlʹny)
• Bulgarian: удобен (bg) (udoben), уютен (bg) (ujuten)
• Catalan: acollidor (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 舒適 / 舒适 (syu¹ sik¹)

  Mandarin: 舒适 (zh) (shū shì), 暄暖 (zh) (xuān nuǎn), 溫馨 / 温馨 (zh) (wēnxīn)

• Cornish: klys
• Czech: pohodlný (cs), útulný
• Danish: hyggelig
• Dutch: gezellig (nl), gezellige (nl), knus (nl), knusse (nl)
• Esperanto: ujutna, gemuta
• Estonian: õdus (et)
• Faroese: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: mukava (fi), kodikas (fi)
• French: douillet (fr) m, douillette (fr) f, peinard (fr) m
• Frisian:

  West Frisian: smûk (fy)

• Georgian: მყუდრო (ka) (mq̇udro)
• German: gemütlich (de), behaglich (de), wohlig (de)
• Greek: άνετος (el) (ánetos)
• Icelandic: huggulegur (is) m
• Irish: seascair
• Italian: accogliente (it)
• Japanese: 居心地のいい (igokochi no ī)
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 아늑하다 (ko) (aneukhada)
• Latvian: ērts
• Lithuanian: jaukus m
• Māori: āhuru
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: koselig (no), hyggelig (no)

  Nynorsk: koseleg

• Old English: please add this translation if you can
• Persian: دنج (fa) (denj)
• Polish: przytulny (pl) m, ciepły (pl), miły (pl)
• Portuguese: íntimo (pt), confortável (pt), aconchegante (pt)
• Romanian: comod (ro), confortabil (ro)
• Russian: ую́тный (ru) (ujútnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: seasgair
• Slovak: útulný m
• Spanish: acogedor (es), hogareño
• Swedish: mysig (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: за́ти́шний m (zátýšnyj)
• Vietnamese: ấm cúng (vi)

Noun

cosy (plural cosies)

1. A padded or knit covering put on an item to keep it warm, especially a teapot or egg.
2. A padded or knit covering for any item (often an electronic device such as a laptop computer).
3. A work of crime fiction in which sex and violence are downplayed or treated humorously, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community.

Derived terms

• cushion-cosy
• cushion cosy
• egg cosy, egg cozy
• loo-roll cosy
• loo roll cosy
• tea cosy, tea cozy
• toilet roll cosy
• toilet-roll cosy

Translations

a padded or knit covering put on a teapot

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 暖壸 (nuǎn hú)

• Japanese: コゼー (kozē)
• Portuguese: abafador (pt) m
• Russian: стёганый чехо́л m (stjóganyj čexól)
• Spanish: cubierta tejida f
• Swedish: huva (sv)

a padded or knit covering for any item

• Japanese: カバー (ja) (kabā)

Verb

cosy (third-person singular simple present cosies, present participle cosying, simple past and past participle cosied)

1. To become snug and comfortable.
2. To become friendly with.

   He spent all day cosying up to the new boss, hoping for a plum assignment.

See also

• cosy along
• cosy up
• cosy up to
• cozen

References

• James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Cosy”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.
• Annandale, C., Ogilvie, J. (1907). The Student's English Dictionary. Ireland: Blackie, p. 164

Anagrams

• Coys, Soc'y, coys

French

Etymology

From English.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ko.zi/

Adjective

cosy (plural cosys)

1. cosy

Noun

cosy m (uncountable)

1. cosy

Further reading

• “cosy”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012