ลูกพี่ลูกน้อง
lûuk-pîi-lûuk-nɔ́ɔng/luːk̚˥˩.pʰiː˥˩.luːk̚˥˩.nɔːŋ˦˥/
The Thai word for cousin is ลูกพี่ลูกน้อง (lûuk-pîi-lûuk-nɔ́ɔng).
ลูกพี่ลูกน้อง is a gender-neutral noun used to refer to the child of a person’s parent’s brother or sister. It can be used for both male and female cousins.
Meaning: child of a person’s parent’s brother or sister (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The term is a compound of three parts: lûuk meaning child, pîi meaning older sibling and nɔ́ɔng meaning younger sibling.
How do you pronounce it?
The pronunciation is lûuk-pîi-lûuk-nɔ́ɔng. It consists of 4 syllables.
When do people say it?
In practical daily conversation, Thai speakers often drop the full phrase. Instead, they address a cousin as pîi (older sibling) or nɔ́ɔng (younger sibling) depending on whether the cousin is older or younger than them.
Did you know?
- Thai culture often uses 'cousin' terms to address people who are not even blood relatives. If someone is a close family friend, you might call them pîi or nɔ́ɔng to show intimacy.
- If you call your cousin by their actual name, it might sound strangely distant or even cold to a Thai family. Using the terms pîi or nɔ́ɔng is the social way to signal that you are actually related.
- In Thailand, the hierarchy of age is more important than the specific label of 'cousin'. Even if you are older than your cousin, if they are the child of a high-ranking elder, you might still use formal titles to show respect.
Examples in context
- ฉันมีลูกพี่ลูกน้องซึ่งเป็นทนายความI have a cousin who is a lawyer.This sentence shows how to use ลูกพี่ลูกน้อง to identify someone's profession.Tatoeba #8717388 by pastelite, translation #250006 by CK
- ลูกพี่ลูกน้องของเธออยู่ที่ไหนluk phi luk nong khong thoe yu thi naiWhere is your cousin?
Example conversation
The two people are looking at a photo on a phone.
- ธีรภัทร Theeraphatคนในรูปนี้คือใครครับkhon nai rup ni khue khrai khrapWho is the person in this photo?
- พิมล Pimonเขาเป็นลูกพี่ลูกน้องของฉันเองค่ะkhao pen luk phi luk nong khong chan eng khaHe is my cousin.
- ธีรภัทร Theeraphatเขาดูหน้าตาเหมือนคุณมากเลยkhao du na ta muean khun mak loeiHe looks a lot like you.
- พิมล Pimonใช่ค่ะ เราสนิทกันมากchai kha rao sanit kan makYes, we are very close.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “cousin” translations and entries ลูกพี่ลูกน้อง, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
