grandmother
Americannoun
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the mother of one's father or mother.
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a female ancestor.
noun
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the mother of one's father or mother
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(often plural) a female ancestor
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(often capital) a familiar term of address for an old woman
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See egg 1
Usage
What does grandmother mean? A grandmother is the mother of a person’s parent. When a mother’s child has their own children, that mother becomes a grandmother. Less commonly, grandmother can be used in a general way to refer to a female ancestor, as in This would not be possible without the contributions of those who came before us, our many grandmothers. Should grandmother be capitalized?Grandmother should be capitalized when it’s used as a proper name, as in Please tell Grandmother that I miss her. But grandmother does not need to be capitalized when it’s simply used as a way to refer to her, as in Please tell my grandmother that I miss her. Example: It doesn’t matter what you call your grandmother, as long as you call her.
Etymology
Origin of grandmother
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; grand-, mother 1
Explanation
Your grandmother is your mom or dad's mother. In many traditional cultures, a grandmother lives with her adult child's family and helps raise her grandchildren. Everyone has two biological grandmothers, maternal (your mother's mother) and paternal (your father's mother). If you're lucky, your grandmother is someone you get to know well. One of the most well-known fictional grandmothers appears in "Little Red Riding Hood," the fairy tale in which a wolf disguises himself as Red Riding Hood's grandmother in an attempt to fool her into being eaten.
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.
The grandmother, who has trouble walking, said she again wasn’t given any information on where to go.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026
Hui, also known as Xu Jiayin, rose from humble beginnings in rural China, where he was raised by his grandmother before venturing into property development and setting up Evergrande in 1996.
From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026
Trump asked reporters after receiving the delivery from Simmons, whom the company described as a grandmother of ten from Arkansas.
From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026
Among its residents: the mother, father, grandmother and grandfather of an ASU undergrad.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 10, 2026
“King of the Skies. Father of Tano and Nansi … and maybe some other kids I don’t quite remember. My grandmother told me a million stories about you.”
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
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.
