grandam

American  

[gran-duhm, -dam] / ˈgræn dəm, -dæm /

Also grandame

noun

1. a grandmother.

2. an old woman.

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grandam British  

/ ˈɡrændeɪm, -dəm, ˈɡrændəm, -dæm /

noun

1. an archaic word for grandmother

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Etymology

Origin of grandam

1175–1225; Middle English gra ( u ) ndame < Old French grant dame. See grand, dame

Example Sentences

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

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

Now, a wholesome-looking mother, with a small child, asks a contribution to the wants of "questa creatura" Now, a grandam, with blackened face and bleached hair, hobbles after you.

From From the Oak to the Olive A Plain record of a Pleasant Journey by Howe, Julia Ward

Mayhap the speech of my good grandam might mislead thee into thinking me but a sorry flirt.

From The Fifth of November A Romance of the Stuarts by Bentley, Charles S.

From the distance gazed with pleasure The old grandam, and her face shone Ghastly in the lurid light.

From The Trumpeter of Säkkingen A Song from the Upper Rhine. by Scheffel, Joseph Victor von