Where does “grandma” come from?
grandma (English) comes from English grand, from Middle English grand, from Anglo-Norman graunt, from Old French grant, from Old French -ur, from Latin -or, from Proto-Italic -ōs, from Proto-Indo-European -ōs — Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;...
grandma (English): grandmother
Definitions
- grandmother
Ancestry of “grandma”, step by step
grandma traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English grand
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | grand | Of a large size or extent; great; Great in size,... |
| 2 | Middle English | grand | — |
| 3 | Anglo-Norman | graunt | Late Anglo-Norman spelling of grant |
| 4 | Old French | grant | big, large |
| 5 | Old French | -ur | -er, used for form agent nouns |
| 6 | Latin | -or | used to form a third-declension masculine... |
| 7 | Proto-Italic | -ōs | Creates masculine action nouns or result nouns... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | -ōs | Creates masculine and feminine action nouns or... |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | -oss | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | -os | Creates action nouns or result nouns from verbs;... |
via English Ma
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Ma | Mother, mom, mama |
| 2 | English | My | megayear; Alternative letter-case form of my... |
| 3 | Middle English | mi | First-person singular genitive determiner: my |
| 4 | Middle English | min | First-person singular genitive determiner: my;... |
| 5 | Old English | mīn | my, mine |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | *mīn | — |
| 7 | Proto-Germanic | mīnaz | my, mine; 1st person singular possessive |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | méynos | my; mine |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | mei | to fix, to build fortifications or fences |