我們都知道在漢語中，對不同的親屬稱謂不同，不但有父系和母系的區別，還有南北地域差異。相比之下，很多人覺得英語中的親戚關系就簡單多了，不管叔叔舅舅姑父姨夫，都是uncle，不管祖父祖母外公外婆，都是grandparent。

但你知道third cousin，second cousin once removed是什么嗎？下面我們就來認識一下這些英語中的“遠房親戚”。

Let's start with the first generally well-known circle beyond the nuclear family of parents and siblings: parents of your parents are your grandparents; children of your siblings are nieces and nephews; siblings of your parents are aunts and uncles; children of your aunts and uncles are first cousins.
讓我們先從眾所周知的核心家庭圈，也就是父母和兄弟姐妹開始：你父母的父母是你的grandparents（祖父母）；你兄弟姐妹的子女是你的nieces和nephews（侄女侄子、外甥/外甥女）；你父母的兄弟姐妹是你的aunts和uncles（阿姨/姑姑、叔伯/舅舅）；你的阿姨/姑姑或叔伯/舅舅的子女是你的first cousins（堂/表兄弟姐妹）。

All that's pretty familiar territory.
這些都是大家非常熟悉的親戚。

Taking a peek next at the most direct line of the generations that precede us, we have greats and grands: your grandparents' parents are your great-grandparents; their parents are your great-great-grandparents, and so on. And just as your parents' siblings are aunts and uncles, so are your grandparents' siblings great-aunts (or grandaunts) and great-uncles (or granduncles), and your great-grandparents' siblings great-great-aunts and great-great-uncles, and so on.
接下來，再來看看我們祖輩和曾祖輩的直系親屬：你祖父母的父母是你的great-grandparents（曾祖父母）；他們的父母是你的great-great-grandparents（高祖父母）等等。你父母的兄弟姐妹是你的aunts和uncles，所以你祖父母的兄弟姐妹就是great-aunts或grandaunts和great-uncles或granduncles，而你高祖父母的兄弟姐妹是great-great-aunts和great-great-uncles等等。

以上親屬的英文稱呼我們都比較熟悉，但是從cousin開始，你可能就要被繞糊涂了。

First cousins

Your first cousins are the people in your family who have two of the same grandparents as you. In other words, they are the children of your aunts and uncles.
你的first cousins（一代表親）是家族中和你有同樣的（外）祖父母的人。換句話說，他們是你父母的親兄弟親姐妹的孩子。

Second Cousins

Your second cousins are the people in your family who have the same great-grandparents as you, but not the same grandparents.
你的second cousins是家族中和你有同樣的曾（外）祖父母的人。也就是說，你們的（外）祖父母是親生的兄弟姐妹。

以此類推，還有third, fourth, and fifth cousins……。

還有一種cousins，叫first cousins once removed，“隔了一代的第一代表親”又是什么意思呢？

First cousins once removed

The degree of a cousin (first, second, third, etc.) doesn't change between generations, but the word removed is used to signal a different generation. Your first cousin —let's say it's Sue— is also a first cousin to your own child, but is removed by a generation, making Sue your child's first cousin once removed.
表親關系不管是一代、二代還是三代的，都不因為輩分變化而變化，而removed這個單詞是用來表示兩人不屬于同一輩的情況。假設蘇是你的第一代表親，那么她也是你孩子的第一代表親，但是這中間差了一輩，因此蘇就是你孩子的first cousin once removed。

Removed表示兩個人不是一代人。你和你的first cousin是一代人，所以你們之間不能說removed。而你的first cousin和你的子女不是一代人，兩個人之間差一個輩分就是once removed，如果差兩個輩分就是first cousin twice removed。

如果你明白了以上的規律，那么就不難理解second cousin once removed的意思。

英文來源：merriam-webster.com
翻譯&編輯：董靜
審校：yaning