cos

See also: Appendix:Variations of "cos"

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

English Wikipedia has an article on:

cos

Wikipedia

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, 2025
• “cos” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.

Chinese

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kàosi, kòusi

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄠˋ ˙ㄙ, ㄎㄡˋ ˙ㄙ

---

• 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), 2008–2025

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, 2012–2025