From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordCozenage means cheating, fraud, or dishonest dealing.
- In TraherneThe term belongs to Traherne’s densely accumulated catalogue of social disorders created around scarce and artificial treasures.
- In this editionUse Cozenage as the normalized finding word while retaining “cousenage” in forms and quotation.
- A place to beginCousenage appears among the social miseries that overwhelm natural peace after false treasures are invented.
Meaning
Cozenage means cheating, fraud, or dishonest dealing. The supplied text spells it “cousenage”; its likeness to cousin is misleading for a reader meeting the word without its context.
Use in the book
The term belongs to Traherne’s densely accumulated catalogue of social disorders created around scarce and artificial treasures. Fraud is not an isolated failure of manners but one consequence of teaching people to pursue what is difficult to acquire while ignoring the abundant goods already given them. The rush of nouns makes those disorders seem to drown the original peace and beauty of nature. Reading cozenage accurately restores a particular practice of deception within that larger indictment, alongside theft, envy, contention, and pride.
Places to read
- I.33Cousenage appears among the social miseries that overwhelm natural peace after false treasures are invented.
In this edition
Use Cozenage as the normalized finding word while retaining “cousenage” in forms and quotation. The passage concerns cheating, not kinship or an obscure social rank.
Source note
Primary text: I.33.