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great-grandfather

[ greyt-gran-fah-ther, -grand- ]

noun

  1. a grandfather of one's father or mother.


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Word History and Origins

Origin of great-grandfather1

First recorded in 1505–15
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The National Herald newspaper was founded in 1938 by Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister and Rahul Gandhi's great-grandfather.

From

Her great-grandfather, Agustí Montal Galobart, was president of the football club in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

From

In the memoir, he carefully chronicles his great-grandfather’s unsavory involvement in Nazi chemical weapons research and gas mask development.

From

The memoir displays Dunthorne’s gift for wry understatement and his doggedness as a researcher: he dug through archives, toted around a Geiger counter and even cooked food that his great-grandfather once consumed.

From

That unreliability mirrors, whether intentionally or not, that of one of his principal sources: the voluminous, virtually unreadable memoir that his great-grandfather composed.

From

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More About Great Grandfather

doesgreat-grandfather mean?

A great-grandfather is the father of a person’s grandparent (the grandfather of a person’s parent).

When a father’s child has their own children, that father becomes a grandfather. When those children have their own children, he becomes a great-grandfather.

Should great-grandfather be capitalized?

Great-grandfather should be capitalized when it’s used as a proper name, as in Please tell Great-grandfather that I miss him.

But great-grandfather does not need to be capitalized when it’s simply used as a way to refer to him, as in Please tell my great-grandfather that I miss him.

Example: My kids were lucky enough to get to know three of their great-grandfathers.

Where doesgreat-grandfather come from?

The first records of the word great-grandfather come from the 1500s. The prefix grand- is used in family terms to indicate a person who is one generation removed, as in grandparent and grandchild. The prefix great- indicates yet another generation.

Another great- can be added for each generation. For example, your great-great-grandfather is the father of your great-grandfather. Most people refer to their great-grandfathers with titles like great-grandpa and great-grandpop, sometimes in combination with a name, as in Great-Grandpa Frank.

Did you know ... ?

are some synonyms for great-grandfather?

are some words that share a root or word element with great-grandfather?

are some words that often get used in discussing great-grandfather?

How is great-grandfather used in real life?

Great-grandfather can be used as a title, but many families use their own unique names. Still, the title that grandchildren use for their grandfather often stays the same even after he becomes a great-grandfather.

Try usinggreat-grandfather!

Is great-grandfather used correctly in the following sentence?

I’m a great-grandfather of 18, a grandfather of 12, and a father of four, so I know a thing or two about temper tantrums.

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great-granddaughtergreat-grandmother