great-grandmother

American  

[greyt-gran-muhth-er, -grand-, -gram-] / ˌgreɪtˈgrænˌmʌð ər, -ˈgrænd-, -ˈgræm- /

noun

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

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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.

Etymology

Origin of great-grandmother

First recorded in 1520–30

Example Sentences

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

Netsi's mother died when she was young, and she was raised by her grandmother and great-grandmother on the farm where she had to "grow up fast".

From BBC • May 31, 2026

My Italian great-grandmother moved into the English Tudor in the 1940s on a street lined by deodars and palm trees.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 7, 2026

We all slept on the floor in one room, my mom and me, my aunt and my cousins, my uncle and my grandmother and my great-grandmother.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah