사촌

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 四寸, from 四 (四, “four”) + 寸 (寸, “degree of kinship”). A degree of kinship is the relationship between a parent and a child, so a cousin is four degrees of kinship away from the speaker (speaker to parent, parent to grandparent, grandparent to uncle, uncle to first cousin).

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈsʰa̠(ː)t͡ɕʰo̞n]
Phonetic hangul: [사(ː)촌]
- Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	sachon
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	sachon
McCune–Reischauer^?	sach'on
Yale Romanization^?	sā.chon

Noun

사촌 • (sachon) (hanja 四寸)

first cousin (either male or female)

Derived terms

사촌지간(四寸之間) (sachonjigan)

Related terms

삼촌(三寸) (samchon, “uncle”)
오촌(五寸) (ochon, “first cousin once removed”)
육촌(六寸) (yukchon, “second cousin”)
칠촌(七寸) (chilchon, “second cousin once removed”)
팔촌(八寸) (palchon, “third cousin”)