grandmother

grandmother — noun

1. the mother of one of your parents; a woman whose son or daughter has given birth

1.nounA2
Definition

the mother of one of your parents; a woman whose son or daughter has given birth to a child of their own.

Example

Aiko visits her grandmother in the countryside every summer to help with the vegetable garden.

visits her grandmother — common verb + collocation pattern

Leila's grandmother taught her how to make dumplings from scratch using a secret family recipe.

possessive noun + grandmother — showing kinship relationship

Common collocations
  • maternal grandmother
  • paternal grandmother
  • great-grandmother
  • visit one's grandmother
  • grandmother's house
  • grandmother's birthday
Synonyms
  • grandma

    informal, very common in spoken English; shorter and warmer than 'grandmother'

  • nana

    informal, used especially by young children or in British English

  • granny

    informal, sometimes considered old-fashioned but still widely used

Usage Note

In Traditional Chinese, the exact term depends on which side of the family: 祖母 (zǔmǔ) or 奶奶 (nǎinai) for the father's mother, and 外祖母 (wàizǔmǔ) or 外婆 (wàipó) for the mother's mother. Colloquially, 奶奶 and 外婆 are far more common in daily speech.

Idioms

teach your grandmother to suck eggs

idiom

to give advice to someone who already has a lot more experience than you in a particular area, and probably knows more than you do.

When the trainee tried to tell the head chef how to season the stew, the chef laughed and said, "Don't teach your grandmother to suck eggs."

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All three words refer to the same family role as 'grandmother' but differ in formality and tone. 'Grandma' is the most common informal term, used by children and adults alike in everyday conversation across both American and British English. 'Nana' is a tender, child-friendly term more frequent in British and Australian English, often used by very young children. 'Granny' is also informal but carries a slightly old-fashioned or affectionate feel — it is often used when talking about one's grandmother in a warm, nostalgic way. While you would address a formal letter 'Dear Grandmother', you would greet her at the door with 'Hi, Grandma!' or 'Hey, Nana!' depending on family tradition.

grandma ↗nanagranny ↗

Common collocations

Phrases

Prepositions

Etymology

Old FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

From Middle English 'grandmoder', a combination of Old French 'grand' (meaning large or senior) and English 'mother'. The 'grand-' prefix was used to indicate one generation older or younger, a pattern borrowed from French kinship terms.