Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (orig. US black) a form of address between (orig. black) males.

1961		C. Himes Pinktoes (1989) 190: Hello, cuz, how’s your fuzz?
1962		(con. 1940s) H. Simmons Man Walking On Eggshells 114: Hey, wait a minute, cuzz, what’s going on?
1977		L. Heinemann Close Quarters (1987) 134: ‘Well, Haney, how ya like it?’ [...] ‘Prime, cuz, downright prime.’.
1980		E. Folb Runnin’ Down Some Lines 28: Hey, cuz, why don’t you c’mere?
1985		T.R. Houser Central Sl. 17: cuzz [...] ‘Say cuzz, wha’s uh.’.
1988		McGill Dict. of Kiwi Sl. 31/1: coz greeting of friend, short for cousin; a Kiwi revival of archaic greeting used by likes of Romeo and Benvolio in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
1990		Tupper & Wortley Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Cuz. A fond form of address. Contraction of cousin. Mainly aboriginal use.
1997		T. Fontana ‘God's Chillin’ Oz ser. 1 ep. 3 [TV script] What’s up, cuz?
2000		G. Pelecanos Shame the Devil 272: So long, Cuz [...] You done gone and talked yourself to death.
2003		McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl. 57: cuz/cuzzy/cuzzy bro Polynesian male greeting. Pakeha term for a Polynesian male. From late C20.
2010		A. Steinberg Running the Books 2946: That’s some good shit, cuz.
2013		K. Koke ‘Fire in the Booth’ 🎵 So I carry cuzzy I ain’t tryna act tough / I ain’t proud even talkin bout this strap stuff.
2016		Guardian G2 1 Sept. 25/2: Get down or lay down. I’ll blow off your head, cuz.
2020		S.A. Crosby Blacktop Wasteland 209: ‘Turn around and go another way, cuz’.
2020		G. Krauze What They Was 60: It’s Nina cuz [...] Comes with like ten sweets in the clip .

2. (orig. US black, also cuzzo) a friend.

1962		(con. 1940s) H. Simmons Man Walking On Eggshells 115: The boys tell me your cuzz used one of my boys for a blackboard to write a message on.
1982		Gettysburg (PA) Times 1 June 9/2: Students talk about their [...] ‘cuz,’ or their friend.
1997–2002		Hope College ‘Dict. of New Terms’ 🌐 cuz n. Friend, buddy.
2006		R. Antoni Carnival 164: She informed me, smiling, that she needed to have a ‘serious’ talk with her cuz.
2014		C. Eble (ed.) UNC-CH Campus Sl. Spring 2014 Fall 2: CUZZO — <cuz <cousin close friend: ‘Long time no see, cuzzo.

3. (US black) a member of the Crips gang.

1991		L. Bing Do or Die (1992) 31: She don’t even dare say ‘Cuz’ [...] I don’t even let her call my homeboys by they gang names.
1996		P. Beatty White Boy Shuffle 56: Wuddup, fool? You Cuz or Blood?