great-grandmother
Americannoun
-
great-grandmothers
plural
Usage
What does great-grandmother mean? A great-grandmother is the mother of a person’s grandparent (the grandmother of a person’s parent). When a mother’s child has their own children, that mother becomes a grandmother. When those children have their own children, she becomes a great-grandmother. Should great-grandmother be capitalized?Great-grandmother should be capitalized when it’s used as a proper name, as in Please tell Great-grandmother that I miss her. But great-grandmother does not need to be capitalized when it’s simply used as a way to refer to her, as in Please tell my great-grandmother that I miss her. Example: My kids were lucky enough to get to know three of their great-grandmothers.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of great-grandmother
First recorded in 1520–30
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:
"Don't be idle: if you can, move," Fava, who recently became a great-grandmother, said in a message to fellow seniors.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
She then explored eligibility through her great-grandmother, only to find that the rule changes bar that.
From Barron's ● Jun. 7, 2026
Over the course of the show, Dowden learned Louisa, her paternal great-grandmother, died in 1921, aged 39, from breast cancer - which she herself was diagnosed with in 2023.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
Our mother, grandmother and now great-grandmother in the winter of her years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 19, 2026
I see her talking to our waitress, who is definitely someone's great-grandmother.
From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan
For these survivors—the grandmothers and great-grandmothers who populate many romantic fantasies—“Italy” seldom meant idyllic country vistas and cardiologists’ dream culinary joys.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
Both of her great-grandmothers were painters; her father, Brian Simpson, is a smooth jazz pianist; and her mother, Beverley Simpson, is a collage artist.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 23, 2025
And in 1917, her heavily pregnant great-grandmothers “swelled with orange heat, like the fruiting of giant persimmons.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 27, 2023
It was my great-grandmothers, who I never met.
From Salon ● Feb. 4, 2022
The heavy work has all been done by countless great-grandmothers and their mates.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
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.
