gran
Americannoun
-
grans
plural
noun
Usage
What does gran mean? Gran is an informal word for grandmother—the mother of a person’s parent. The word granny is used in the same way. A similar word for a grandfather is gramps. Gran should be capitalized when it’s used as a proper name, as in Please tell Gran that I miss her. But gran does not need to be capitalized when it’s simply used as a way to refer to her, as in Please tell my gran that I miss her. Example: It doesn’t matter what you call your gran, as long as you call her.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of gran
First recorded in 1860–65; by shortening
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:
With God on his side, Gannon-Doak - who received a Bible from his gran - feels "strong and grounded" but it's something he practices in private.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
When she was five, her gran took her to live in Stranraer in south-west Scotland, about two hours' drive from her home in Glasgow.
From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2025
Then, in February 2024, came a call: Tetiana was critically ill, and Lyudmila's gran could visit her in hospital – once she'd been questioned by the FSB security service.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2025
"My gran raised me until my teens, when I went back to my mum. She was clean for a while, but there was no structure or no boundaries."
From BBC ● Jan. 18, 2025
“Yes, your gran too. She’s the one who showed me how to do it.”
From "Root Magic" by Eden Royce
Call the Midwife often has that feel-good Sunday evening tone to it, drawing in mums and dads, along with grans and granddads.
From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2013
"For," said Marian, "if the grans don't care about Christmas gifts, I do, and I like to give."
From Little Maid Marian by Amy Ella Blanchard
Text, "et si a moult de granz paluz et moult grans pantains à merveilles"—wonderful swamps and marshes!
From The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 2 by Henry Yule
The photographs were sent off a good three weeks before Christmas, and a duplicate set was made for the grans as well as one for Mrs. Hunt.
From Little Maid Marian by Amy Ella Blanchard
"Do you think papa will need me more than the grans, Patty?"
From Little Maid Marian by Amy Ella Blanchard
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.
