いとこ

also: じゅうしまい

い

と

こ

Common wordJLPTN2Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

noun

cousin (female)

usually written using kana alone

Refers specifically to a female cousin. The male counterpart is 従兄弟 (いとこ). In modern Japanese, いとこ is often used gender-neutrally in kana.

Written forms

従姉妹Usage100%
- いとこ
  gikun (meaning-based reading) or jukujikun
  Kanji spelling specifically for a female cousin. Rare in practice; the word is usually written in kana.
- じゅうしまい
  Alternate reading for the kanji spelling. Very rare and not in common use.
じゅうしまい

Kanji

従accompany, obey, submit to
姉elder sister
妹younger sister

Similar words

従兄弟いとこ
Refers to a male cousin. Both 従姉妹 and 従兄弟 are often written simply as いとこ in modern usage.

Etymology

The kanji 従姉妹 literally mean 'follow', 'elder sister', 'younger sister', indicating a female relative of the same generation. The reading いとこ is a native Japanese word, and the kanji are jukujikun (assigned by meaning).