The act of deceiving or cheating someone, or a trick played on someone.
From cozen (to deceive) with the -age suffix meaning an action or result. Cozen comes from obsolete French 'cousin' in the sense of a trickster pretending to be a relative.
In medieval times, con artists would pretend to be distant cousins to gain trust and steal from people—that's literally why 'cousin' became synonymous with trickery!
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