Other forms: cozens
To cozen is to cheat somebody by clever persuasion. Cozen him out of his money, cozened into signing, cozen the old man.
It is archaic and belongs to Shakespeare's world, where it appears constantly. The cheating is by talk rather than by force, which is what separates it from robbing. It has nothing to do with cousin, despite looking like it.
1verbcozenTo cheat somebody by clever persuasion.
“The smooth salesman cozened the old couple into buying a useless insurance policy.”
cozen is a cheating.
Also accepted in games: swindle
Perhaps from an obsolete Italian word meaning to cheat, from a word for a horse-dealer or middleman.
From cozy + -en.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA