grandmother
Syllables: grand·mo·ther/ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌmʌðə(r)//ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌmʌðɚ/
grandmother noun: a mother of someone's parent.
Noun
grandmother (plural grandmothers)
- A mother of someone's parent.
- "It's a nightingale floor," our grandmother told us. "It warns us of thieves in the night."2018, Michael Ondaatje, Warlight, →ISBN, page 13
- “Not only is it showing that the brain of grandmothers is activated with grandparenting, it also shows that the parental brain areas are activated late in life, or perhaps are always activated. Once a mother, always a mother,” Pawluski said.2021 November 19, Madeline Holcombe, “Is your mom warmer with her grandkids than with you? A new study says blame biology”, in CNN
- A female ancestor or progenitor.
- […] man may admit that his grandfathers and grandmothers were mon[keys a]nd monkeyesses if he want^([sic]) to; that is his privilege.1923 May 17, “ […] Advertiser and Mr. Bryan”, in The Progressive Age, Scottsboro, Ala.: James S. Benson, page [4]
- In Amazonian shamanism and related contexts, a reverential name for the ayahuasca vine or brew, symbolizing its role as a wise, guiding spirit.
- "Enter ayahuasca, the mystical grandmother of the psychedelic family, a beacon of profound spiritual experiences"2025, AJ Murillo, The Beginner's Guide to Ego Death Expand Your Mind Through Psychedelic Exploration, →ISBN, page 125
grandmother meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
grandmother in Hindi
- mother of someone's parent
- दादी dādī, नानी nānī
grandmother in Tamil
- mother of someone's parent
- பாட்டி pāṭṭi, ஆயாள் āyāḷ, மூதாய் mūtāy, முன்றாய் muṉṟāy
grandmother in Marathi
- mother of someone's parent
- आजी ājī
grandmother in Urdu
- mother of someone's parent
- دادی dādī, نانی nānī
More languagesFewer languages
- grandmother in Bengali
- নানী nani, নানু nanu, দাদি dadi, দাদু dadu
- grandmother in Telugu
- అవ్వ avva, తాతమ్మ tātamma
- grandmother in Malayalam
- മുത്തശ്ശി muttaśśi, അമ്മുമ്മ ammumma, അമ്മമ്മ ammamma
- grandmother in Kannada
- ಅಜ್ಜಿ ajji
- grandmother in Punjabi
- ਨਾਨਿਮਾ nānimā
- grandmother in Gujarati
- બા bā
- grandmother in Odia
- ଜେଜେମାଆ jejemāā, ଆଈ āi
- grandmother in Sanskrit
- पितामही pitāmahī
- grandmother in Sinhala
- ආත්තා āttā, ආච්චි ācci
- grandmother in Assamese
- আইতা aita
- grandmother in Nepali
- हजुरआमा hajuraāmā
- grandmother in Pashto
- نيا nyā, انا anā
- grandmother in Tagalog
- lola, impo, lelang, abwela
- grandmother in Arabic
- جَدَّة jadda
- grandmother in Malay
- nenek
- grandmother in Indonesian
- nenek
- grandmother in Thai
- ย่า yâa, ยาย yaai
- grandmother in Vietnamese
- bà, bà ngoại, bà nội
- grandmother in Myanmar
- အဘွား a.bhwa:, ဘွားဘွား bhwa:bhwa:
- Kashmiri
- نانؠ nān'
Examples of grandmother in a sentence
- My grandmother is a very active woman and is quite young for her age.
- During the war, his grandmother had worked at the Bletchley Park decoding station as a calculator.
- It was sweet of her to send some roses for her unwell grandmother.
Synonyms of grandmother
- abuela
- baba
- babcia
- babulya /babulia (chiefly in Eastern European (especially Russian) contexts)
- babushka
- babusia
- babusya /babusia
- bubbe
- gammy
- gram
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Antonyms
Forms of grandmother
| plural | grandmothers |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete) | grand-mother |
Origin of grandmother
From Middle English graundmodre, grauntmoder, granmoder; equivalent to grand- + mother. Compare French grand-mère. Superseded earlier eldmother, eldermother.
Words formed from grandmother
- coastal grandmother
- co-grandmother
- don't teach your grandmother how to suck eggs
- don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs
- don't teach your grandmother how to milk ducks
- don't teach your grandmother to steal sheep
- GILF
- god-grandmother
- grandmother cell
- grandmother clock
- grandmotherfucker
- grandmotherhood
- grandmothering
- grandmother-in-law
- grandmotherish
- grandmotherism
- grandmotherless
- grandmotherly
- grandmother rule
- great-grandmother
- great-great-grandmother
- great great great grandmother
- if my grandmother had balls, she'd be my granddad
- if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a streetcar
- maternal grandmother
- paternal grandmother
- sell one's own grandmother
- stepgrandmother
- you kiss your grandmother with that mouth
Phrases with grandmother
Questions about grandmother
- What does grandmother mean?
- Grandmother means a mother of someone's parent.
- What is grandmother in Hindi?
- Grandmother in Hindi is दादी (dādī), नानी (nānī). See Grandmother meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is grandmother?
- Grandmother is a noun.
- How do you pronounce grandmother?
- Grandmother is pronounced /ˈɡɹæn(d)ˌmʌðə(r)/ (UK).
- What is the plural of grandmother?
- The plural of grandmother is grandmothers.
Words near grandmother in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: grandmother (page history and authors); అవ్వ (Telugu) (page history and authors); ಅಜ್ಜಿ (Kannada) (page history and authors); બા (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ආච්චි (Sinhala) (page history and authors); আইতা (Assamese) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-grandmother.ogg, en-us-grandmother.ogg.
Cite this entry: “grandmother.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/grandmother. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.