grandfather
Americannoun
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the father of one's father or mother
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(often plural) a male ancestor
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(often capital) a familiar term of address for an old man
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dialect a caterpillar or woodlouse
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of grandfather
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at grand-, father
Explanation
Your grandfather is the father of one of your parents. If your grandfather is quite old and has dozens of grandchildren, it might be hard for him to remember your birthday every year. Everyone has two biological grandfathers, whether they've had the chance to know them or not. In some families, grandmothers and grandfathers are involved in raising and caring for their grandchildren, while in others a grandfather may have died or live very far away. Informally, a grandfather can also be someone who started or invented something: "Blues musician Robert Johnson was the grandfather of rock and roll."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Then a letter from a lawyer arrives, and it transpires that their maternal grandfather, whom they never knew, has left them, among other things, an island in Ontario’s Muskoka Lakes district.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
The two-year-old girl was picked up and driven away from Kids Planet in Crosby on Merseyside by the grandfather of another child before he realised the mistake and she was returned to the nursery.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
On the evening of 17 June, the day before he died, Kahaan chatted cheerfully with his grandfather, who had just landed in Melbourne to be with his daughter, on a video call.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
Zielinski remembers having a dream as a child that her grandfather actually made it to shore.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
“I remember when my grandfather died. I was little, but I knew that everybody was upset because it was sort of sudden. I’m sorry, it must have been bad when she died.”
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
The vintage movie footage—one of Mr. Magnason’s grandfathers was a camera buff, so images abound—gives a solid sense of a place, its people and its self-image.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026
But for most of my life, they felt like the domain of grandfathers, finance bros and people who knew what vermouth was without having to Google it.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
“We’re asking airmen to strap into jets that their grandfathers, fathers and now they are flying, and it is time for a reset,” said Doug Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
His two grandfathers, both named Bill, were key figures in his early life, later providing inspiration for the title of his 2023 memoir.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
I want to make the shadow pass over all the clean, startled faces, all those who believe in president grandfathers.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
