grandam
Americannoun
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a grandmother.
-
an old woman.
noun
Etymology
Origin of grandam
1175–1225; Middle English gra ( u ) ndame < Old French grant dame. See grand, dame
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.
To many of her contemporaries Eleanor was a byword for wantonness, in Shakespeare four centuries later a "canker'd grandam"; by the time of Victoria, Charles Dickens thought it sufficient to call Eleanor "a bad woman."
From Time Magazine Archive
By the Games of 2022, it may be grandam Kissling who is declaring that, say, rhythmic snow dancing does not deserve to be elevated alongside her time-honored pursuit.
From Time Magazine Archive
And to Sophy there came the words of Constance: "Do, child, go to it, grandam, child: Give grandam kingdom, and it' grandam will Give it a plum, a cherry, and a fig."
From Shadows of Flames A Novel by Rives, Amélie
"I heard my grandam calling me last night," she said; "I be going to her soon."
From The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6 A Monthly Eclectic Magazine by Rameur, E.
The grandam wagged her head approvingly; the patriarch stroked his beard with acquiescence and strong men clenched their fists as the spokesman mouthed their real or fancied wrongs.
From The Strollers by Fisher, Harrison
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.
