kissing cousinとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

From kissing +‎ cousin.

発音

• (Received 発音) IPA^(key): /ˌkɪsɪŋ ˈkʌzn̩/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌkɪsɪŋ ˈkʌz(ə)n/, /-ˈkʌzɪn/
• 韻: -ʌzən
• ハイフネーション: kiss‧ing cou‧sin

名詞

kissing cousin (複数形 kissing cousins)

1. A relatively distant relative, or a friend, who is familiar enough to be greeted with a kiss.

   Synonym: kissing kin

2. (figuratively) A thing which is related or similar to another thing.

   Synonyms: cousin, cousin-german, kissing kin

   • 1981 September, George Reiger, “Conservation: What’s in a Name?”, in Field & Stream, volume LXXXVI, number 5, New York, N.Y.: CBS Publications, ISSN 0015-0673, OCLC 64226494, page 107, column 1:

     [A]fter the initial public brouhaha, wildlife administrators will suddenly decide that the classification of the Aleutian Canada goose as an endangered species was a gross mistake all along. Either the bird will be downgraded to "threatened" status—which means it can be hunted—or it will be declared a nonspecies, as has already happened to all its taxonomic kissing cousins.

   • 1994, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Universe Down to Earth, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 175:

     Silicon is a “kissing cousin” of carbon. Notice it immediately below carbon in the Periodic Table. The arrangement of silicon’s outer electrons resembles those of carbon. For this reason, silicon and carbon are chemically similar.