grandpa

[gran-pah, -paw, grand-, gram-, gram-puh]

noun

Informal.

1. grandfather.

grandpa

/ ˈɡrænd-, ˈɡræm-, ˈɡrænd-, ˈɡrænpəˌpɑː, ˈɡrænˌpɑː /

noun

1. informal words for grandfather

Word History and Origins

Origin of grandpa¹

First recorded in 1885–90; grand- + pa

Example Sentences

“I already have nightmares, grandpa,” says the kid.

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“My girlfriend’s grandpa used to collect matchbooks, and last summer, he gave me a really sentimental one, really solidifying my place in the family, and we both wanted it to become our thing,” she says.

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Ever since she was very young, she enjoyed hanging out with her grandpa and helping him work on his collection of classic cars.

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My grandpa always used to say, “A hundred years from now, will anyone know the difference?”

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“Didn’t your father tell you? It was your admiral grandpa who got the whole mess started, after all.”

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Related Words

• ancestor 
• patriarch 

When To Use

What does grandpa mean?

Grandpa is an informal word for grandfather—the father of a person’s parent.When a father’s child has their own children, that father becomes a grandpa. The word pa is an informal way to say father.Grandpa is often combined with a name, especially when a person has two grandfathers that they call Grandpa, as in Grandpa Carl andGrandpa Frank. Should grandpa be capitalized?Grandpa should be capitalized when it’s used as a proper name, as in Please tell Grandpa that I miss him. But grandpa does not need to be capitalized when it’s simply used as a way to refer to him, as in Please tell my grandpa that I miss him. Example: It doesn’t matter what you call your grandpa, as long as you call him.