great-grandfather

[greyt-gran-fah-ther, -grand-]

noun

1. a grandfather of one's father or mother.

Word History and Origins

Origin of great-grandfather¹

First recorded in 1505–15

Example Sentences

“This is your great-grandfather, Kwame. Your grandmother’s father.”

Read more on Literature

“A long-lost diary,” he continued, “regarding a doomed voyage undertaken by Lord Fredrick Ashton’s great-grandfather, Admiral Percival Racine Ashton. According to the archives, the book is part of the holdings of the Ashton library.”

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“I believe the admiral was the current Lord Ashton’s great-grandfather,” she explained.

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The violins her great-grandfather made in the 1800s, family portraits painted by a relative, photo albums, souvenirs from travels and personal treasures were all lost inside the homes that kept her family’s legacy.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He recalled being shown his great-grandfather's medals and eventually developed the thirst for more knowledge.

Read more on BBC

When To Use

What does great-grandfather mean?

A great-grandfather is the father of a person’s grandparent (the grandfather of a person’s parent).When a father’s child has their own children, that father becomes a grandfather. When those children have their own children, he becomes a great-grandfather.Should great-grandfather be capitalized?Great-grandfather should be capitalized when it’s used as a proper name, as in Please tell Great-grandfather that I miss him. But great-grandfather does not need to be capitalized when it’s simply used as a way to refer to him, as in Please tell my great-grandfather that I miss him. Example: My kids were lucky enough to get to know three of their great-grandfathers.